HISTORY 


and 


ENGINEERING  REPORTS 


the 


Columbia  Southern  Irrigation  Project 

Crook  County,  Oregon 


Prepared  for  the  Desert  Land  Board  of  Oregon 


EXECUTIVE  OFFICE. 


SALEM,  OREGON,  December  10,  1912. 

Dear  Sir:  Referring  to  the  Columbia  Southern  Carey  Act  Irrigation 
Project  I  wish  to  submit  for  your  consideration  five  possible  methods 
of  completing  the  same. 

1st,  contract  with  A.  D.  Katz; 

2nd,  contract  with  some  other  person  or  company; 

3rd,  irrigation  district; 

4th,  U.  S.  Reclamation  Service,  either  alone  or  through  co-operation 
with  the  State  of  Oregon;  ,  , 

5th,   State  reclamation. 


1st.  Mr.  Katz  at  the  present  time  has  an  option  on  the'  projecc  which1 
will  expire  on  December  31,  1912.  Nothing  definite  is  now  known  regard- 
ing his  plans.  If  he  succeeds  in  financing  the  project,  the  terms  of  his 
contract  with  the  State  have  already  been  agreed  upon  and  there  will  be 
no  occasion  to  present  the  matter  to  the  legislature.  If  Mr.  Katz  fails, 
the  completion  of  the  project  must  be  obtained  through  one  of  the 
remaining  methods. 

2nd.  Should  Mr.  Katz  fail,  there  is  no  likelihood  that  any  other  con- 
tractor will  undertake  the  project.  Private  capital  is  at  the  present 
time  very  shy  about  investing  in  irrigation  securities  and  especially  Carey 
Act  securities;  and  as  the  Columbia  Southern  project  has  so  many 
complications  and  such  a  bad  past  record  it  would  no  doubt  be  useless 
to  seek  to  interest  any  other  person  or  company. 

3rd.  The  completion  of  the  project  by  the  formation  of  an  irrigation 
district  has  been  suggested  by  resolutions  adopted  in  September,  1912, 
by  the  Laidlaw  Development  League.  This  plan  has  many  commendable 
features  and  deserves  careful  consideration. 

The  first  question  that  will  come  up  in  connection  with  an  irrigation 
district  is  the  acreage  to  be  included  in  the  district. 

At  the  present  time  2,274.63  acres  have  been  deeded,  which  contain 
about  1,800  irrigable  acres.  As  this  includes  some  of  the  best  land  in 
the  project,  and  much  of  it  is  highly  improved,  it  would  afford  the  best 
of  security  for  irrigation  district  bonds  or  assessments. 

There  are  3,406.36  acres  of  patented  land  which  have  not  yet  been 
deeded.  The  holders  of  some  of  this  land  could  no  doubt  obtain  deeds 
in  the  near  future  by  completing  payments  and  submitting  final  proof. 
The  list  of  actual  settlers  prepared  for  Mr.  Katz  shows  they  hold  about 
2,800  irrigable  acres,  and  that  would  probably  represent  the  maximum 
irrigable  acreage  to  which  deeds  can  be  obtained  in  the  immediate 
future,  or  about  1,000  irrigable  acres  in  addition  to  the  present  deeded 
irrigable  land. 

The  Board  of  Control  in  adjudicating  the  water  rights  on  Tumalo 
Creek  determined  that  3,057.75  irrigable  acres  had  a  vested  water  right. 
This  would  represent  the  maximum  irrigated  area  up  to  the  summer 


[2] 

of  1909.  In  addition  the  board  awarded  inchoate  rights  for 
5,119.50  irrigable  acres,  provided  they  were  irrigated  by  October  1,  1913. 
It  is  not  likely  that  much  of  this  area  will  obtain  sufficient  water  to 
perfect  the  water  right,  and  5,000  irrigable  acres  will  probably  represent 
the  maximum  area  which  will  obtain  a  good  water  right  and  a  good 
land  title.  This  would  comprise  about  2,800  acres  of  deeded  Carey  Act 
lands  and  about  2,200  acres  of  deeded  private  lands. 

The  irrigation  district  may  be  considered  from  two  points  of  view; 
first,  as  a  means  of  operating  and  maintaining  the  present  system;  and, 
second,  as  a  means  of  completing  the  entire  project. 

The  present  Columbia  Southern  headgate  and  canal  are  in  very  poor 
condition,  and  if  the  system  is  to  revert  to  the  settlers  they  should  have 
an  organization  ready  to  take  over  the  project  and  raise  sufficient  funds 
to  make  extensive  improvements.  By  properly  fixing  the  main  canal 
the  losses  from  seepage  can  be  materially  reduced,  and  the  water  supply 
correspondingly  increased.  An  irrigation  district  might  provide  a  very 
good  way  to  handje  the  project,  as  any  assessments  levied  for  mainten- 
ance', impr^v.ejrn^nts  or  extensions  would  become  a  lien  on  the  land  and 
•tljeir  cotyectitnit  Could  be  enforced.  The  affairs  of  the  district  would  be 
manag*ed  by  officers'  'ejected  every  two  years  and  the  settlers  would  thus 
ite;1h;'pps>t*on*td/chamlle  things  to  their  own  satisfaction.  Should  the 
; <)jvjier&  of  'private  lands  not  wish  to  be  in^uded  in  an  irrigation  district, 
the  Carey  Act  settlers  could  form  themselves  into  such  a  district  and 
have  ample  area  to  enable  them  to  operate  the  system  to  advantage. 

But  when  the  irrigation  district  is  considered  as  a  means  of  com- 
pleting the  entire  system  several  difficulties  are  encountered.  The  holders 
of  contracts  with  the  old  Columbia  Southern  Company  for  lands  which 
have  not  been  reclaimed  could  be  included  in  the  district,  but  the  more 
lands  the  organizers  attempt  to  include,  the  greater  would  be  the  diffi- 
culty of  organization,  and  if  some  people  are  forced  into  an  irrigation 
district  against  their  will,  it  is  bound  to  cause  friction  and  litigation. 
But  assuming  that  a  district  can  be  organized  which  includes  the  Carey 
Act  and  private  deeded  lands  and  also  the  unreclaimed  Carey  Act  lands 
sold  by  the  Columbia  Southern  Company,  the  next  quesiton  is,  how  to 
finance  the  project? 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  State  Land  Board  be  authorized  to 
purchase  these  irrigation  district  bonds.  This,  however,  does  not  appear 
at  all  commendable.  Assuming  that  the  5,000  irrigable  acres  mentioned 
above  is  all  included  in  the  district,  said  acreage  would  be  the  only 
land  at  the  present  time  with  any  material  value  as  security  for  a  bond 
issue.  It  would  not  be  worth  more  than  an  average  of  $40.00  per  acre, 
or  a  total  of  $200,000  and  could  not  be  bonded  for  that  much. 

It  :'s  true  that  the  irrigation  district,  after  it  is  organized  might 
obtain  a  contract  with  the  Desert  Land  Board  for  the  reclamation  under 
the  Carey  Act,  of  the  unsold  land  in  the  project,  amounting  to  about 
7,000  irrigable  acres,  and  could  offer  Carey  Act  bonds  for  this  land  in 
addition  to  the  district  bonds  for  the  other  lands.  But  bonds  based  upon 
the  unsold  lands,  and  the  unreclaimed,  sold  lands,  would  be  poorly 
secured.  Capital  now  thoroughly  realizes  that  Carey  Act  liens  offer  very 
poor  security,  and  it  is  almost  impossible  to  sell  Carey  Act  bonds  covering 
a  good,  new  project,  let  alone  those  covering  a  project  with  a  history 
like  the  Columbia  Southern. 

In  short,  it  would  seem  almost  impossible  for  the  officers  of  the  irriga- 
tion district  to  succeed  in  financing  the  entire  project.  However,  if  Mr. 
Katz  fails  and  no  arrangements  are  made  by  the  State,  and  the  settlers 
wish  to  attempt  to  complete  the  project  through  an  irrigation  district 
they  should  be  given  every  encouragement  and  assistance  possible. 


[3J 

4th.  The  next  method  to  consider  is  the  construction  of  the  project 
by  the  United  States  Reclamation  Service,  either  directly  or  through 
co-operation  by  the  State. 

It  is  believed  that  no  effort  has  ever  been  made  to  induce  the  Reclama- 
tion Service  to  undertake  the  project.  Oregon  is  entitled  to  the  expendi- 
ture within  the  State  of  a  large  amount  of  the  Reclamation  Fund,  and 
there  is  a  bare  possibility  that  the  Reclamation  Service,  through  Oregon's 
congressional  delegation  might  be  induced  to  undertake  this  project.  But 
as  there  are  opportunities  in  the  State  for  the  promotion  of  projects 
which  are  free  from  disagreeable  complications,  the  Reclamation  Service 
would  be  most  certain  to  insist  on  taking  up  these  new  projects  before 
considering  the  Columbia  Southern  project.  And  in  attempting  to  get 
them  interested  in  the  project  a  long  time  would  be  wasted  in  fruitless 
negotiations. 

The  plan  of  co-operation  between  the  State  and  the  United  States 
Reclamation  Service  for  the  development  of  the  entire  Deschutes  Valley 
has  been  discussed  to  some  extent.  This  plan,  if  it  could  be  worked  out 
would  be  a  fine  thing  for  the  State.  By  taking  the  Deschutes  Valley 
before  it  has  been  cut  up  into  numerous  independent  holdings,  and  arrang- 
ing for  the  development  that  would  utilize  to  the  best  advantage  all  avail- 
able water,  would  be  a  grand  achievement.  But  this  will  require  many 
years,  and  even  if  the  legislature  makes  provisions  for  co-operation,  it 
will  be  several  years  before  any  actual  construction  will  be  commenced, 
and  it  might  not  be  possible  to  persuade  the  Reclamation  Service  that 
the  Columbia  Southern  project  should  be  taken  up  first. 

And  in  this  connection  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Columbia  Southern  project  by  private  capital,  an  irrigation 
district,  or  the  State  would  not  interfere  with  co-operative  development, 
but  would  probably  assist  it.  If  it  was  found  that  the  waters  from 
Tumalo  Creek  could  be  used  to  more  advantage  lower  down,  and  waters 
from  the  Deschutes  applied  on  the  Columbia  Southern  lands,  such  an 
arrangement  could  be  made  and  the  Tumalo  reservoir  still  used. 

5th.  This  brings  us  to  a  consideration  of  the  completion  of  this  pro- 
ject by  direct  action  of  the  State,  by  which  is  meant  the  construction  of  a 
reclamation  system  with  money  appropriated  by  the  legislature  and 
expended  under  the  direction  of  the  Desert  Land  Board,  or  such  other 
officer,  board  or  department  as  the  legislature  may  direct.  It  is  believed 
that  this  is  one  of  the  most  feasible  and  satisfactory  methods  of  complet- 
ing the  project.  While  the  State  has  incurred  no  legal  liability  on 
account  of  the  failure  of  the  project,  there  is  no  doubt  that  some  moral 
responsibility  rests  with  it  to  remedy  conditions  which,  to  a  certain 
extent,  are  due  to  mistakes  on  the  part  of  its  officers. 

The  State  Land  Board  no  doubt  felt  that  having  relied  upon  its 
appointees  to  investigate  this  project,  it  should  be  held  blameless,  but 
the  fact  nevertheless  remains  that  the  project  was  not  properly  investi- 
gated, nor  the  contract  properly  drawn,  and,  as  a  result  of  these  failures, 
the  Company  was  permitted  to  make  sales  and  collect  money  for  much 
more  land  than  there  was  water  to  irrigate.  Inasmuch  as  many  years 
have  elapsed  since  the  shortage  of  water  was  discovered,  and  the  State 
has  failed  in  its  efforts  to  induce  others  to  complete  the  project,  it  would 
seem  if  there  is  no  other  possible  way  of  completing  it,  that  the  credit 
of  the  State  could  with  propriety  be  loaned  to  aid  in  its  completion. 

The  State  does  not  guarantee  Carey  Act  projects  but  purchasers  invest 
in  such  lands  very  largely  because  they  believe  that  the  State  will  super- 
vise the  project  in  such  manner  as  to  protect  their  interests.  The  State 
failed  to  exercise  proper  supervision  in  this  case,  and  it  should  there- 


[4] 

fore  make  a  special  effort  to  see  that  these  purchasers,  whose  money  was 
put  into  the  project  may  eventually  be  protected,  either  by  a  return  of 
the  money  through  an  opportunity  to  obtain  desirable  irrigated  land  at 
a  fair  price. 

It  is  almost  impossible,  now,  to  sell  Carey  Act  bonds  because  investors 
have  learned  by  bitter  experience  that  a  Carey  Act  lien  is  very  poor 
security.  The  result  is  that  promoters  are  now  attempting  to  finance 
projects  on  the  funds  of  the  prospective  settler.  This  would  be  all  right 
if  he  could  be  properly  protected,  but  it  is  difficult  to  arrange  for  such 
protection.  The  settler  must  assume  the  risk,  and  when  he  finds  that 
the  State  is  not  guaranteeing  the  completion  of  the  project  into  which  his 
money  is  to  go,  and  that  he  will  be  without  security  he  is  very  likely 
to  decline  to  invest  his  money. 

A  proper  and  businesslike  way  of  handling  an  irrigation  project 
would  be  to  have  sufficient  funds  available  to  complete  the  construction 
work  and  have  an  adequate  supply  of  water  ready  for  immediate  delivery 
to  the  land  before  it  is  placed  on  the  market.  The  State  could  easily 
handle  a  project  in  this  way. 

To  complete  the  Columbia  Southern  project  so  as  to  reclaim  all  the 
irrigable  land  in  the  original  selection  of  27,004.83  gross  acres,  would 
require,  according  to  the  State  Engineer's  estimate  practically  $450,000, 
or  an  expenditure  of  $225,000  a  year  for  two  years.  If  the  State  were 
to  appropriate  this  amount,  complete  the  project,  and  then  place  the 
lands  on  the  market  at  an  average  price  of  say  $40.00  per  acre,  they  could 
all  be  sold,  and  the  money  appropriated,  together  with  interest,  and  a 
fair  profit  be  turned  back  into  the  State  Treasury. 

Your  attention  is  particularly  called  to  the  Engineer's  report  on  this 
project,  a  copy  of  which  is  attached. 

Yours  truly, 

OSWALD    WEST. 


HISTORY  CALICO 


and 


ENGINEERING  REPORTS 


on  the 


Columbia  Southern  Irrigation  Project 

Crook  County,  Oregon 


Prepared  for  the  Desert  Land  Board  of  Oregon 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COLUMBIA  SOUTHERN  PROJECT. 


By  H.  C.  Brodie,  Assistant  Secretary  Desert  Land  Board. 


SALEM,  OREGON,  No,yetfi^r  20,  l£l?. 

His  Excellency,  Oswald  West,  Governor  of  Oregon: 

DEAR  SIR:  I  submit  herewith  a  brief  statement,  giving  the 
past  history  of  the  Columbia  Southern  Project: 

Although  water  filings  were  made  and  some  construction 
done  on  this  project  prior  to  1902,  it  was  first  called  to  the 
attention  of  the  Board  on  February  7,  1902,  at  which  time, 
upon  the  application  of  the  Three  Sisters  Irrigation  Company, 
a  selecting  agent  and  surveyor  were  appointed  by  the  Board. 
On  December  5,  1902,  the  State  Land  Board,  acting  on  behalf 
of  the  State  of  Oregon,  and  the  Three  Sisters  Irrigation  Com- 
pany, executed  a  contract  for  the  reclamation  of  the  lands  in 
Carey  Act  Selection  List  No.  13.  This  contract  fixed  a  lien  of 
$277,000.00,  the  lien  to  be  afterward  apportioned  to  the  differ- 
ent tracts  according  to  their  value.  One  of  the  provisions  in 
this  contract  was  that  after  the  execution  of  a  contract  between 
the  United  States  and  the  State,  any  qualified  person  desiring 
to  obtain  any  of  these  lands  should  sign  an  application  in 
duplicate  with  the  company,  one  copy  of  which  should  be  filed 
with  the  Board  and  when  such  applicant  had  filed  his  release 
of  lien  with  the  Board,  the  State  should  issue  deed  without 
further  payment. 

No  detailed  plans  and  specifications  were  filed  with  the 
Board  prior  to  the  execution  of  this  contract,  although  a  brief 
statement  as  to  water  supply  was  submitted  by  Levi  D.  Weist, 
from  which  it  was  made  to  appear  to  the  Board  that  an  ample 
supply  of  water  existed  for  the  reclamation  of  all  the  lands  in 
the  project. 

On  January  12,  1904,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  executed 
a  contract  for  the  reclamation,  under  the  Carey  Act,  of  27,- 
004.83  acres.  No  office  of  the  State  Engineer  existed  at  this 
time.  The  Board,  on  January  14,  1904,  therefore,  appointed 
A.  E.  Hammond  to  act  as  engineer,  with  the  duty  of  super- 
vising the  reclamation  of  Carey  Act  lands.  On  April  1,  1904, 
the  Three  Sisters  Irrigation  Company  submitted  proof  to  the 


678536 


COLUMBIA  SOUTHERN  IRRIGATION  PROJECT. 


Board  that  12,259.49  acres  had  been  reclaimed  and  asked  the 
Board  to  so  certify  to  the  Interior  Department,  which  was 
accordingly  done  by  the  Board,  relying  upon  the  report  of  their 
engineer  and  statement  of  the  agent  of  the  company.  On 
April  7,  1904,  the  apportionment  of  lien  made  by  Mr.  Ham- 
mond was  approved  by  the  Board. 

The  Three  Sisters  Irrigation  Company  had  done  a  great  deal 
'  "  j  ,o*£  work^inJQd  thfe  execution  of  their  contract,  and  in  September, 
:  1:904,  'itfr/taictfaw,  manager  of  the  Company,  reported  to  the 
A  : :  SQatrd-Jhat  the^fia'jJ  constructed  35  miles  of  main  canal  and  50 
:•'.: : 'miles  'hi*  laterals'  at  a  cost  of  approximately  $150,000,  and  that 
1,000  acres  of  land  had  been  watered  during  the  1904  season, 
and  that  they  expected  to  irrigate  18,000  acres  in  1905.  Every- 
thing seemed  to  be  going  very  nicely  on  the  project. 

The  contract  between  the  State  and  United  States  having 
been  executed  and  lien  apportioned,  the  company  proceeded  to 
accept  applications  and  execute  contracts  for  the  sale  of  the 
lands.  As  the  average  price  was  only  a  trifle  over  $10  per  acre, 
the  lands  were  sold  very  rapidly  during  the  years  1904  and 
1905,  and  the  early  part  of  1906  contracts  were  executed  for 
17,929.1  acres,  of  which  area,  approximately  14,800  acres  were 
irrigable  land.  In  addition  to  this,  the  company  executed  con- 
tracts to  sell  water  to  1360  acres  of  private  land  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  Carey  Act  land. 

On  January  19,  1905,  the  United  States  executed  patent  to 
the  State  for  11,695.48  acres,  and  on  March  20,  1905,  Mr.  Laid- 
law  submitted  a  second  list  for  patent,  containing  6,293.72 
acres. 

Trouble  began  at  the  close  of  the  1905  irrigation  season, 
when  the  Board  received  a  letter  from  the  Water  Users'  Asso- 
ciation, advising  that  although  only  about  1,000  acres  had  been 
cultivated  during  that  season,  there  had  been  some  shortage 
of  water  and  as  a  large  area  had  been  sold  and  would  no  doubt 
be  settled  in  the  near  future,  it  was  evident  that  the  water  sup- 
ply would  be  much  too  small  for  the  protection  of  purchasers. 

On  November  1,  1905,  therefore,  the  clerk  of  the  Board  wrote 
the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office,  requesting  that 
action  be  suspended  on  the  second  list  for  patent,  and  the 
United  States,  therefore,  returned  this  list  to  the  State. 

On  November  8,  1905,  the  Three  Sisters  Irrigation  Company 
conveyed  its  rights  to  the  Columbia  Southern  Irrigation  Com- 
pany, which  company,  on  November  10th,  again  conveyed  the 
rights  to  the  Columbia  Southern  Irrigating  Company,  which 
company  continued  to  have  charge  of  the  project  until  placed 
in  the  hands  of  a  receiver. 


COLUMBIA  SOUTHERN  IRRIGATION  PROJECT. 


Early  in  1906,  the  Board  insisted  that  the  company  adopt 
rules  for  the  distribution  of  water,  which  should  be  similar  to 
those  used  on  the  Deschutes  Irrigation  &  Power  Company  Pro- 
ject, and  which  would  properly  protect  purchasers.  This  the 
company  refused  to  do  and  no  settlement  having  been  reached 
after  a  number  of  meetings,  the  matters  relative  to  this  project 
were,  on  April  25,  1906,  referred  to  the  Attorney  General. 
During  the  summer  of  1906,  it  was  made  plainly  apparent  that 
although  water  rights  had  been  sold  to  a  large  area,  the  water 
supply  was  sufficient  for  the  irrigation  of  only  from  2,000  to 
3,000  acres.  During  that  summer,  about  60  settlers  lived  on 
the  project  and  these  settlers  raised  $500  by  subscription  and 
had  a  survey  made  by  the  State  Engineer  which  demonstrated 
the  feasibility  of  completing  the  project  by  storage  in  the 
Wimer  Flat  Reservoir. 

It  was  found  impossible,  however,  for  the  Board  and  Colum- 
bia Southern  Irrigating  Company  to  agree  as  to  any  arrange- 
ment for  completing  the  project,  or  to  come  to  any  satisfactory 
arrangement  relative  to  rules  for  the  distribution  of  water  or 
forms  of  contract  and  release  of  lien  to  be  used  by  the  company, 
and  on  August  21,  1907,  the  Attorney  General  filed  a  suit  in 
the  Federal  Court  in  the  District  of  Oregon,  asking  for  can- 
cellation of  the  contract  between  the  company  and  State  on  the 
grounds  that  the  State  had  been  induced  to  execute  this  con- 
tract through  fraudulent  representations  by  the  representatives 
of  the  Three  Sisters  Irrigation  Company,  and  that  the  com- 
pany has  failed  and  refused  to  complete  its  work  and  is  now 
insolvent,  and  has  wasted  and  misapplied  a  large  portion  of  the 
money  collected  from  settlers.  This  suit  was  finally  deter- 
mined in  September,  1909,  and  was  decided  against  the  State, 
the  court  holding  that  there  was  apparently  no  fraud,  but  that 
a  mutual  mistake  was  made  as  to  the  feasibility  of  the  project 
and  that  the  contract  could  not  be  cancelled  in  a  court  of  equity 
until  an  attempt  had  been  made  to  affect  cancellation  in  a  man- 
ner provided  by  the  State  statute  and  that  in  any  event,  in  any 
suit,  all  of  the  settlers  must  be  made  parties  as  their  rights 
must  be  determined  in  the  decree.  The  State  decided  not  to 
appeal  from  this  decision  and  since  that  time  the  history  of 
the  project  is  simply  the  history  of  the  attempt  to  reorganize 
it  and  place  it  upon  a  satisfactory  basis. 

.  Almost  immediately  after  the  settlement  of  this  suit,  negotia- 
tions were  begun  for  the  complete  investigation  of  the  project 
and  on  December  30,  1909,  a  contract  was  executed  between 
the  Desert  Land  Board  and  the  Oregon,  Washington  &  Idaho 
Finance  Company.  This  company  agreed  to  make  complete 


COLUMBIA  SOUTHERN  IRRIGATION  PROJECT. 


engineering  investigations  and  to  execute  a  contract  for  the 
reclamation  of  the  lands  within  eight  months  from  that  date. 
A  number  of  extensions  of  time,  however,  were  granted,  as  it 
was  found  impossible  to  interest  finance  and  the  last  extension 
expired  on  March  1,  1912,  at  which  time  the  engineering  data 
collected,  was  turned  over  to  the  Desert  Land  Board. 

This  contract  of  December,  1909,  had  provided  that  the  Ore- 
gon, Washington  &  Idaho  Finance  Company  should  obtain  the 
title  to  the  project  from  the  Columbia  Southern  Irrigating  Com- 
pany, and  if  unable  to  go  ahead  with  the  project,  should  con- 
vey the  title  to  the  State.  On  February  1,  1911,  a  deed  was 
executed  by  the  Columbia  Southern  Irrigating  Company  con- 
veying all  of  its  property,  water  rights  and  interests  of  every 
kind  in  connection  with  the  project,  to  the  Oregon,  Washing- 
ton &  Idaho  Finance  Company,  and  on  December  15,  1911, 
tKe  Oregon,  Washington  &  Idaho  Finance  Company  deeded 
to  the  State  of  Oregon  all  rights  and  interests  of  every  kind 
in  connection  with  this  project.  This  deed  was  placed  in 
escrow  and  was  delivered  to  the  Board  in  March,  1912,  upon 
the  failure  of  the  company  to  finance  the  project  by  that  time. 

Although  the  Board,  on  March  1,  1912,  held  the  title  to  the 
project,  it  was  in  no  condition  and  had  no  funds  to  take  actual 
charge  of  the  project  and  as  Mr.  A.  D.  Katz,  was  willing  to 
do  so,  the  Board,  on  March  1,  1912,  executed  a  contract  with 
Mr.  Katz,  wherein  he  agreed  to  maintain  the  project  during 
the  year  1912,  and  to  use  his  best  efforts  to  finance  the  project, 
the  Board  agreeing  that  if  he  succeeded  in  financing  the  project 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Board,  on  or  before  December  31, 
1912,  a  contract  would  be  executed  with  him  for  the  reclama- 
tion of  the  lands,  and  a  draft  of  this  proposed  final  contract 
was  prepared  and  attached  as  an  exhibit,  to  the  contract  of 
March  1,  1912. 

In  October,  1909,  the  General  Land  Office  called  the  State's 
attention  to  the  fact  that  although  patent  had  been  issued 
for  more  than  11,000  acres,  these  lands  had  not  been  properly 
reclaimed  and  the  United  States  therefore  required  the  can- 
cellation of  this  patent  so  far  as  it  affected  such  unreclaimed 
lands,  and  therefore,  on  June  27,  1910,  the  State  reconveyed 
the  title  to  6,014.49  acres,  leaving  a  balance  of  land  now 
patented  to  the  State  of  5,680.99  acres.  Deeds  have,  from  time 
to  time  been  issued  to  settlers  on  this  project  and  at  the  present 
date  (November  20,  1912),  the  State  has  deeded  2,274.63  acres. 

In  1909,  proceedings  were  initiated  before  the  Board  of 
Control,  as  provided  for  in  the  Oregon  Water  Code,  for  the 
adjudication  of  the  water  rights  on  Tumalo  Creek.  This 


COLUMBIA  SOUTHERN  IRRIGATION  PROJECT. 


adjudication  was  completed  and  on  May  1,  1911,  the  Circuit 
Court  for  Crook  County,  issued  a  decree  fixing  the  rights  of  all 
parties  interested  in  the  waters  of  Tumalo  Creek.  By  this 
decree,  vested  rights  were  granted  for  the  irrigation  of  3,057.75 
acres.  About  700  acres  of  this  is  for  private  lands  and  the 
balance  for  lands  in  the  segregation.  Inchoate  rights  were 
allowed  for  5,119.5  acres,  of  which  approximately  2200  acres 
are  private  lands  and  the  balance  Carey  Act  lands.  The  holders 
of  inchoate  rights  are  allowed  until  October  1,  1913,  in  which 
to  complete  the  reclamation  of  their  lands  in  order  to  perfect 
their  water  rights.  The  decree  fixes  the  priority  for  the  pri- 
vate lands  watered  from  private  ditches,  as  earlier  than  that 
for  the  lands  watered  through  the  Columbia  Southern  ditch, 
all  lands  watered  through  the  Columbia  Southern  ditch  hav- 
ing a  priority  date  of  September,  1900.  In  addition  to  these 
vested  and  inchoate  rights,  the  court  gives  a  right  to  the  Colum- 
bia Southern  Irrigating  Company  with  a  priority  date  of  June 
1,  1907,  for  the  reclamation  of  the  balance  of  the  lands  in  the 
segregation,  provided  such  lands  are  reclaimed  on  or  before 
October  1,  1917.  As  the  water  rights  of  the  Columbia  Southern 
Irrigating  Company  are  owned  by  the  State,  and  as  all  rights 
on  the  stream  have  been  accurately  determined,  this  feature 
of  the  project  is  apparently  in  such  condition  that  no  litiga- 
tion relative  to  water  rights  should  arise  in  case  satisfactory 
arrangements  are  made  for  continuing  the  development  of  the 
project. 

The  Columbia  Southern  Irrigating  Company,  at  the  time 
the  project  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver,  held  settlers' 
notes  for  deferred  payments  under  their  contracts.  Practically 
all  of  these  settlers  ceased  making  payments  when  the  trouble 
between  the  Board  and  company  began  and  these  notes  were 
deposited  with  the  Oregon  Trust  and  Savings  Bank,  as  trustee. 
They  later  came  into  the  possession  of  Mr.  A.  E.  Clark,  who 
held  them  to  protect  his  attorneys  lien  for  services  rendered 
the  Columbia  Southern  Irrigating  Company.  On  June  26,  1912, 
however,  Mr.  Clark  transmitted  all  of  these  notes  to  the 
Governor,  advising  him  that  while  he  felt  his  lien  should  be 
protected  as  against  the  Columbia  Southern  Irrigating  Com- 
pany, the  Oregon,  Washington  &  Idaho  Finance  Company,  or 
their  successors  in  interest,  he  would  waive  any  claim  as 
against  the  State  and  authorized  the  Governor  to  make  such 
use  of  these  notes,  either  by  cancellation  or  otherwise,  as  in 
his  judgment  will  advance  the  welfare  of  the  irrigation  project. 

At  the  present  time,  therefore,  all  the  water  right  complica- 
tions have  been  terminated,  the  title  to  the  project  is  held  by 


8  COLUMBIA  SOUTHERN  IRRIGATION  PROJECT. 

the  State,  and  everything  would  appear  to  be  favorable  for  a 
reorganization  of  the  project  by  Mr.  Katz,  or,  if  he  is  unable 
to  do  so,  by  the  State. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

H.  C.  BRODIE, 
Asst.  Secretary  Desert  Land  Board. 


SALEM,  OREGON,  November  7,  1912. 

His  Excellency,  Oswald  West,  Governor  of  Oregon: 

DEAR  SIR  :  In  compliance  with  your  recent  request  I  trans- 
mit herewith  a  report  on  the  Columbia  Southern  Project,  pre- 
pared by  Mr.  0.  Laurgaard,  chief  engineer  in  charge  of  this 
project  for  the  past  two  years  for  the  Oregon,  Washington  & 
Idaho  Finance  Company  and  for  Mr.  Alma  D.  Katz.  This 
report  presents  the  latest  and  most  complete  data  available 
relative  to  this  project,  and  is  based  not  only  on  Mr.  Laur- 
gaard's personal  investigation,  but  also  on  the  various  engineer- 
ing reports  which  have  been  prepared  on  this  project  at  vari- 
ous times  by  Mr.  Chas.  L.  Swain,  Mr.  Frank  C.  Kelsey,  Mr. 
H.  W.  King  and  Mr.  D.  C.  Henny.  Mr.  Laurgaard's  report 
made,  as  it  was,  by  a  reputable  engineer,  after  a  careful  and 
long  continued  investigation  is  more  reliable  and  covers  the 
project  more  in  detail  than  any  report  that  could  be  made 
at  this  time  by  this  office,  without  a  complete  and  compre- 
hensive survey  and  engineering  investigation  of  the  project. 

If  the  construction  of  a  35,000  acre  project  is  contemplated, 
I  would  not  deem  it  necessary  to  submit  anything  further  than 
Mr.  Laurgaard's  report,  It  is  my  understanding,  however, 
that  information  relative  to  the  project  is  desired  by  you,  with 
a  view  of  making  recommendations  to  the  legislature  relative 
to  the  completion  of  the  project  by  State  Reclamation.  I  have, 
therefore,  supplemented  Mr.  Laurgaard's  report  with  some 
estimates  as  to  cost,  in  case  the  State  should  wish  to  reclaim 
only  those  lands  included  in  the  original  Columbia  Southern 
Carey  Act  Segregation.  My  estimates  are  based  upon  Mr. 
Laurgaard's,  simply  making  the  necessary  reductions  on 
account  of  the  decrease  in  size  of  some  of  the  structures. 

The  attached  report  by  Mr.  O.  Laurgaard  is  based  on  the 
cost  of  reclaiming  35,000  acres  of  irrigable  land  and  while  the 
acre  cost  of  this  project  will  probably  be  less  than  the  acre 
cost  of  reclaiming  the  smaller  area,  yet  the  total  cost  of 
reclaiming  only  those  lands  included  in  the  original  segregation 
list  No.  13  will  be  much  less  than  the  total  cost  of  reclaiming 


COLUMBIA  SOUTHERN  IRRIGATION  PROJECT.  9 

the  35,000  acre  project.  Oregon  Desert  Land  Segregation 
List  No.  13  covered  27,004  acres  of  which  it  is  estimated  that 
21,300  acres  are  irrigable. 

At  the  request  of  the  Oregon,  Washington  and  Idaho  Finance 
Company,  a  temporary  withdrawal  was  secured  covering 
approximately  5,000  acres  of  land  adjoining  the  Columbia 
Southern  segregation,  of  which  between  three  and  four 
thousand  acres  are  irrigable.  However,  none  of  this  temporary 
segregation  has  been  sold  to  prospective  settlers  nor  does  any 
of  the  present  constructed  irrigation  system  cover  any  part 
of  this  temporary  withdrawal  and  for  these  reasons,  it  would 
seem  that  these  lands  could  be  readily  eliminated  from  further 
consideration  without  injustice  to  anyone,  and  their  elimination 
would  considerably  reduce  the  appropriation  required  to  con- 
struct the  project.  Hence,  in  this  report,  only  those  lands 
included  in  the  original  segregation  list,  together  with  such 
other  lands  which  may  have  prior  vested  water  rights  will  be 
considered  in  this  report. 

All  rights  to  the  use  of  water  on  Tumalo  Creek  have  been 
determined  and  placed  on  record  by  the  Board  of  Control  and 
in  this  determination,  certain  vested  and  inchoate  rights  were 
granted  to  private  lands.  These  lands  aggregate  about  3,200 
acres,  1,000  of  which  will  be  covered  by  the  reservoir,  leaving 
2,300  for  which  water  must  be  supplied.  This  report  will, 
therefore,  take  into  account  the  following  acreage : 


Irrigable    acres    of    segregated    land- 
Irrigable  acres   of  private   land  


Total 23,500 

WATER  SUPPLY. 

For  the  amount  of  water  available  at  the  proposed  new 
diversion  from  Tumalo  Creek,  Mr.  Laurgaard's  figures  have 
been  accepted  and  the  years  1910  and  1911  taken  as  a  safe 
period  upon  which  to  base  an  estimate  of  the  water  supply. 
The  irrigation  season,  as  fixed  in  the  attached  report,  seems 
to  be  somewhat  long  in  view  of  the  fact  that  only  1.8  acre  feet 
is  to  be  delivered  on  the  land  during  this  period.  This  is  the 
same  quantity  of  water  that  is  required  to  be  delivered  on  the 
Central  Oregon  Irrigation  Project  in  90  days.  However,  the 
soil  in  the  Columbia  Southern  segregation  is  considerably 
better,  there  being  less  waste  land.  This  amount  may  there- 
fore be  sufficient  for  the  irrigation  of  these  lands  and  has  not 
been  changed.  A  loss  of  30 %  between  the  headgate  and  the 
land  has  been  assumed. 


10 


COLUM9IA  SOUTHERN  IRRIGATION  PROJECT. 


The  following  table  gives  the  amount  of  water  available  and 
the  amount  required  for  the  irrigation  of  23,500  acres  of 
irrigable  land. 


Year  1910-1911 

Recorded 
flow  of 
Tumalo 
Creek 

Estimate 
of  in- 
crease at 
intake 
new  feed 
canal 

Total 
available 
at  head- 
gate 

Depth 
on  land 
in  feet 

Amount 
required 
on  23.500 
acres 

Amount 
required 
at  head- 
gate  for 
23.500 
acres 

Amount 
required 
for 
storage 

Amount 
available 
for 
storage 

October  16-31 

2.560 

2  560 

2,560 

November 

4,110 

4  110 

4,110 

December 

6.820 

6,820 

6,820 

January 

5.060 

5  060 

5.060 

February  .. 

5,040 

5,040 

5.040 

March.    . 

5,  530 

5,530 

5,530 

April 

5,670 

2  155 

7  825 

12 

2  820 

4  029 

3,796 

May  

8,240 

783 

9.023 

.25 

5,875 

8,  393 

630 

June.  . 

15,900 

15,900 

33 

7  755 

11,079 

4,821 

July 

8.610 

8  610 

41 

9  635 

13  764 

5  154 

August  

4.480 

4,430 

.41 

9,635 

13.764 

9.334 

September 

4,040 

4  040 

20 

4  700 

6  714 

2,674 

October  1-15 

1  990 

1  991) 

08 

1  880 

2  686 

696 

Totals  .... 

78,(K)0 

2.938 

80,938 

1.80 

42,800 

60,429 

17,858 

38,367 

From  Mr.  Laurgaard's  capacity  curve  it  appears  that  a  59- 
foot  dam  will  store  18,000  acre-feet. 

It  will  be  observed  that  storage  to  the  amount  of  17,858  acre 
feet  will  be  required  to  supplement  the  regular  flow  of  the 
stream.  This  will  be  stored  in  Tumalo  reservoir. 

It  may  be  well  to  note  here  that  the  Board  of  Control,  in 
its  determination  of  the  water  rights  of  Tumalo  Creek,  granted 
certain  vested  and  inchoate  rights  to  settlers  on  the  segrega- 
tion and  to  the  company,  in  trust  for  other  settlers,  independent 
of  the  general  inchoate  right  of  the  company  for  the  balance 
of  the  segregation.  In  round  numbers,  the  lands  having  a 
prior  water  right  to  the  land  of  the  segregation,  are  as  follows : 

Carey   Act  lands  in   the   segregation    5,000  acres. 

Private  lands  covered  by  same  distribution   system 1,000  acres. 

Private    lands   covered    by    reservoir    1,000  acres. 

Private  lands  lying  above  diversion  canal  1,000  acres. 

Total    8,000  acres. 


Eliminating  from  consideration  the  1,000  acres  in  the 
reservoir  site,  which  would  be  flooded,  leaves  a  balance  of  7,000 
irrigable  acres  which  has  a  water  right  prior  in  time  to  the 
balance  of  the  seprepated  lands. 

To  supply  this  land  according  to  the  schedule  upon  which 
the  attached  report  is  based  would  require  during  April  840 
acre  feet,  during  May,  1,750  acre  feet,  June  2,310  acre  feet, 
July  2,  870  acre  feet,  August  2,870  acre  feet,  September  1,400 
acre  feet,  October  560  acre  feet.  Referring  to  the  table  pre- 


COLUMBIA  SOUTHERN  IRRIGATION  PROJECT.  11 

ceding,  it  will  be  noted  that  sufficient  water  is  available  to 
supply  these  lands  from  the  direct  flow  of  Tumalo  Creek,  with- 
out storage.  However,  should  this  amount  of  land  be  placed 
under  cultivation,  with  no  change  in  the  present  constructed 
works,  there  would  be  a  shortage  of  water  on  account  of  the 
extremely  heavy  losses  in  the  present  diversion  canal. 

RESERVOIR. 

The  18,000  acre  feet  of  storage  required  will  be  stored  in 
the  Tumalo  Reservoir  and  no  excess  capacity  will  be  necessary 
as  losses  by  seepage  and  evaporation  will  be  compensated  for 
by  precipitation  and  surface  water  from  the  reservoir  drainage 
area.  For  the  storage  of  18,000  acre  feet  it  will  require  a 
depth  of  water  at  the  dam  of  59  feet  and  a  dam  64  feet  in 
height.  Such  a  reservoir  will  approximately  cover  1,000  acres 
of  land,  all  of  which  is  held  in  private  ownership.  In  estimat- 
ing the  quantities  in  the  dam,  they  have  been  taken  as  62  per 
cent  of  the  quantities  in  the  dam  designed  by  Mr.  Laurgaard. 

In  order  that  the  construction  of  the  dam  may  not  prevent 
the  maximum  development  at  some  future  time,  by  increasing 
the  height  of  the  dam,  the  outlet  conduits  have  not  been 
changed  from  the  design  given  in  the  report  of  Mr.  Laurgaard. 
The  dam  can  then  be  raised  to  its  maximum  height  at  any  time 
without  interfering  with  the  dam  as  constructed. 

Only  a  small  reduction  can  be  made  in  the  cost  of  con- 
structing the  auxiliary  dam  as  this  includes  the  waste  way  for 
the  reservoir,  which  will  have  to  be  as  large  for  the  smaller 
reservoir  as  for  the  larger.  It  will  be  necessary  to  purchase 
1,000  acres  of  private  land  to  be  covered  by  the  reservoir  and 
this  has  been  estimated  at  $50.00  per  acre.  Mr.  Lauregaard,  in 
his  report,  has  fixed  the  value  of  these  lands  at  $66.00  per 
acre.  It  is  believed  that  this  figure  determined  upon  on 
account  of  $66.00  per  acre  being  the  maximum  lien  allowed 
by  the  Board  in  the  preliminary  contract  with  Mr.  Alma  D. 
Katz  for  irrigated  lands  in  the  segregation. 

Should  the  State  construct  these  works,  the  actual  selling 
price  of  the  lands  will  be  less  than  $40.00  per  acre,  and  cer- 
tainly $50.00  per  acre  would  be  a  fair  price  for  these  lands. 
This  would  place  the  cost  of  the  lands  in  the  reservoir  at 
$50,000.  On  the  foregoing  basis,  the  estimate  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  reservoir  has  been  revised,  as  follows : 


12  COLUMBIA  SOUTHERN  IRRIGATION  PROJECT. 


TUMALO  DAM. 

87,000  cu.  yds.  earth  excavation  and  fill  at  60  cents $  34,200  00 

4,335  cu.  yds.  concrete  core  at  $11.00  47,685  00 

2,295  cu.  yds.  excavation  cut-off  trench  at   $1.25   2,868  75 

1,980  cu.  yds.  excavation  drain  trench  at  $1.00  1,980  00 


2  acres  stripping  at  $300.00 


8,470  cu.  yds.  riprap  at  $1.75 

1,500  cu.  yds.  excavation  for  tunnel,  open  cut  at 


600  00 

14,822   50 

$1.50          2,250   00 


400  ft.  excavation  tunnel   8'x8'  at  $2~0.00 8,000  00 

200  ft.  concrete  lining,  300  cu.  yds.  at  $18.00 5,400  00 

70  ft.   shaft  excavation   6'x8'  at  $40.00   2,800  00 

75  ft.  concrete  lining.  100  cu.  yds  at  $18.00     1,800  00 

2  gates,  rods,  stands,  grillings,  etc.,  in  place  5,000  00 

1  gate  house   1,000  00 

Total   $128,406  25 

AUXILIARY  DAM. 

Dam  and  outlet  conduits  ...                                                      ..  $   10,000  00 

Spillway     5,500  00 


Total    $   15,500   00 

TOTAL  COST  OF  CONSTRUCTION  OF  RESERVOIR. 

Tumalo    Dam    ..  $128,406   25 

Auxiliary    Dam 15,500   00 

Lands 50,000   00 

Roads,   etc 1,700  00 


Total   $195,606   25 

FEED  CANAL. 

The  feed  canal  must  be  designed  to  carry  sufficient  water  not 
only  for  the  21,300  acres  of  segregated  lands  but  also  for  the 
one  thousand  acres  of  private  land,  securing  water  from  the 
same  distribution  system.  On  the  basis  of  one  second  foot 
for  eighty  acres,  the  maximum  rate  granted  in  permits  from 
the  State  Engineer's  office,  the  canal  would  be  required  to 
carry  279  second  feet.  The  canal  has,  however,  been  designed 
with  a  capacity  of  300  second  feet  and  this  would  without 
doubt  be  ample  capacity  to  fill  the  reservoir. 

The  quantities  of  excavation  and  lumber  for  flumes  have 
been  estimated  at  6-7  of  Mr.  Laurgaard's  estimates.  No 
reduction  has  been  made  in  the  estimated  cost  of  the  diversion 
dam. 

COST  OF  FEED  CANAL. 

Diversion    Weir    $      5,000 

Flumes,    6.000   ft.   at   $4.50   27,000 

Trestles,   1,000  ft.  at  $2.00   2,000 

Excavation  for  flumes,  5,000  lin.  ft.,  6,430  cu.  yds.  at  40  cts.  2,570 
Canal  excavation,  8,100  lin.  ft. — 

15,770  cu.  yds.    at    $1.25    19,700 


11,570  cu.  yds.  at  50  cts 

23,500  lin.  ft.  60,690  cu.  yds.  at  30  cts 

Right  of  Way,  cost  of  land,  about  80  acres  

Clearing  right  of  way  

By-pass  and  drop  into  reservoir  


5,780 
18,200 
1  600 
31200 
3,000 


Total $   88,050 


COLUMBIA  SOUTHERN  IRRIGATION  PROJECT.  13 


DISTRIBUTION    SYSTEM. 

In  estimating  the  cost  of  the  distribution  system,  the  private 
lands  to  be  watered  from  the  same  system  must  be  considered, 
for  the  distribution  system  already  constructed,  and  for  which 
an  allowance  of  $45,000  is  made,  covers  these  private  lands. 

At  $6.50  per  acre,  the  distribution  system  for  22,300  acres 
would  cost  in  round  numbers,  $145,000.  Deducting  $45,000, 
the  estimated  value  of  the  present  works,  it  would  leave 
$100,000  to  be  expended  on  the  distribution  system. 

RECAPITULATION  OF  COST. 

Tumalo    Dam    $128,406  25 

Auxiliary    Dam    _ 15,500  00 

Feed    Canal    88,050  00 

Reservoir  roads  and  excavation  of  cut  1,700  00 

Engineering,      contingencies,      incidentals.      administra- 
tion,   15%    50,048  44 

Land   purchases    necessary     for     reservoir,     1,000     acres 

at  $50.00   50,000  00 

Preliminary    investigations    10,000  00 


Total  cost   ...  .......   $443,704   69 

For  the  construction  of  the  remainder  of  the  irrigation 
works  necessary  for  the  complete  reclamation  of  the  lands  in 
Oregon  Desert  Land  Segregation  List  No.  13,  it  will  require, 
therefore,  $443,704.69,  and  if  the  State  is  to  undertake  the 
reclamation  of  these  lands,  this  amount  should  be  appropriated 
and  made  available  for  expenditure  within  the  ensuing 
two  years. 

REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  PROJECT. 

In  considering  the  reorganization  of  this  project,  we  have 
four  classes  of  land  with  which  to  deal.  First,  private  lands 
in  the  project  to  which  the  Columbia  Southern  Co.  contracted 
to  deliver  water  and  the  Board  of  Control  decreed  water 
rights;  second,  segregated  land  in  the  project  to  which  the 
Board  of  Control  decreed  a  water  right,  prior  in  time  to  the 
general  inchoate  right  for  the  remainder  of  the  segregation; 
third,  segregated  land  contracted  for  sale  by  the  Columbia 
Southern  Company,  to  which  the  Board  of  Control  decreed 
no  water  rights,  other  than  a  general  inchoate  right  for  the 
project;  fourth,  unsold  segregated  land. 

Omitting  the  first  class,  which  contains  about  1,000  acres 
of  irrigable  land,  we  have, 

Ir>rigable        Gross 
Second   class,   segregated   lands   with  prior  water 


Fourth  class,  unsold  segregated  lands  .. 


Totals  .............................       21'300       27'000 


14  COLUMBIA  SOUTHERN  IRRIGATION  PROJECT. 

Th,e  Columbia  Southern  Irrigation  Company  contracted  to 
deliver  water  to  the  1,000  acres  of  irrigable  lands  in  the  first 
class  and  a  large  part  of  the  agreed  price  of  the  water  rights 
for  these  lands  is  yet  unpaid.  However,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  the  lands  at  the  present  time  have  a  reasonably  good 
water  right,  it  may  be  impossible  to  collect  the  outstanding 
balance,  and  even  if  it  should  be  collected,  it  might  be  claimed 
by  the  original  contractors  as  the  reclamation  system  for 
these  lands  is  practically  complete.  For  the  same  reason,  it 
is  doubtful  whether  these  lands  would  contribute  in  any  way 
to  the  reconstruction  of  the  project. 

Lands  of  the  second  class  are  in  practically  the  same  condi- 
tion as  those  of  the  first  class,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  the 
unpaid  balance  could  be  considered  as  an  asset  of  the  project. 
It  is  also  extremely  doubtful  whether  these  lands  would  con- 
tribute to  the  reconstruction. 

It  is  estimated  that  about  $95,000  has  been  paid  under  con- 
tracts for  lands  in  the  third  class,  and  as  this  amount  was 
paid  in  good  faith,  the  purchasers  should  be  entitled  to  an 
allowance  of  the  amount  paid.  $95,000  must  therefore  be 
added  to  the  cost  of  construction  of  the  project  to  arrive  at 
the  minimum  price  at  which  the  lands  could  be  sold. 

The  lands  of  the  fourth  class  could  be  sold  at  any  price  at 
which  they  would  find  a  ready  sale,  and  it  may  be  advisable 
to  fix  a  higher  price  on  the  irrigable  land  in  this  class  than  on 
the  irrigable  land  in  the  third  class  in  order  to  encourage  the 
present  contract  holders  to  retain  their  contracts  and  thus 
avoid  the  necessity  of  reselling  the  land. 

The  estimated  cost  of  the  construction  of  the  project  is 
$443,704.69,  to  which  must  be  added  $95,000,  making 
$538,704.69  as  the  minimum  cost  at  which  the  land  can  be 
sold.  As  stated  above,  it  is  probable  that  classes  Number  One 
and  Number  Two  would  bear  no  part  of  this  cost.  This  would 
leave  18,000  acres,  of  which  16,300  are  irrigable,  to  bear  this 
cost,  or  $33.05  per  irrigable  acre.  This  land  would  easily 
stand  this  cost,  and  in  order  to  guard  against  unforseen  con- 
tingencies and  insure  the  return  of  the  original  appropriations 
to  the  State,  an  additional  charge  of  five  dollars  should  be 
made  against  each  irrigable  acre,  making  the  average  selling 
price  $38.05. 

Should  the  project  be  constructed  at  the  cost  herein 
estimated  and  the  land  sold  at  an  average  price  of  $38.05  per 
irrigable  acre,  an  excess  of  $81,500  would  be  returned  to  the 
State,  over  and  above  the  original  appropriation. 


COLUMBIA  SOUTHERN  IRRIGATION  PROJECT.  15 

SUMMARY  OF  IMPORTANT  FEATURES  OF  THE  PROJECT. 

Total    irrigable    acreage    to    be    reclaimed   from    Tumalo 

Creek  3   23,500   00 

Lands  below  proposed  diversion  canal   22,300   00 

Irrigable  acreage  upon  which  cost  must  be  assessed 16,300   00 

Reservoir:      Height   of  dam, 64   feet 

Area   1,000    acres 

Capacity    18,000   acre   feet 

Auxiliary  Dam  :     Height  20  feet 

Total  cost  of  Reservoir,  including  lands,   roads,  etc $195,606   25 

Feed  Canal :    Capacity,   300  second  feet. 

Cost   of   Feed   Canal 88,050   00 


Distribution   System  :     Cost   

Allowance   for   present   system   . 

Net  cost  of  distribution  system  

Total  cost,  which  is  appropriation  required 


$145,000 
45,000 


100,000   00 
443,704    69 


Credit  to  be  allowed  for  payments  on  contracts 95,000   00 

Cost  per  acre  for   16,300   acres  ; 33   05 

Selling  cost  per  acre,   for   16,300  acres  38   05 

Should  the  State  undertake  the  reclamation  of  this  project, 
and  the  necessary  appropriation  made  for  this  purpose,  it  will 
be  necessary  to  make  surveys  to  check  these  estimates  for  the 
reduced  area.  Other  factors  may  enter  into  the  construction 
of  the  project,  after  the  reduction  of  the  area,  which  do  not 
appear  in  Mr.  Laurgaard's  report,  but  it  is  believed  that  the 
foregoing  revised  estimates  are  safe  and  conservative. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

JOHN  H.  LEWIS, 

State  Engineer. 


PORTLAND,  OREGON,  March  12,  1912. 

Mr.  A.  D.  Katz,  Portland,  Oregon. 

DEAR  SIR  :  In  accordance  with  your  request  I  herewith 
respectfully  submit  a  complete  report  on  the  Columbia  South- 
ern Irrigation  Project  which  is  a  summary  of  all  my  previous 
reports  to  the  Oregon,  Washington  &  Idaho  Finance  Co.,  with 
some  additions  and  modifications.  The  work  of  surveying, 
locating,  platting  and  mapping  necessary  for  this  report  was 
completed  under  my  direct  supervision,  and  the  maps,  plans, 
specifications,  and  exhibits  hereto  attached  have  been  carefully 
prepared  after  long  and  continued  investigation  on  the  ground 
and  over  the  project. 

GENERAL  DESCRIPTION. 

The  project  is  situated  in  Crook  County,  Central  Oregon,  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Deschutes  river  about  140  miles  south 
of  the  Columbia  River,  extending  from  about  two  miles  south 
of  Laidlaw  to  two  miles  north  of  Cline  Falls,  and  embracing  an 


16  COLUMBIA  SOUTHERN  IRRIGATION  PROJECT. 

area  about  fifteen  miles  long  and  from  six  to  eight  miles  wide. 
The  lands  lie  in  townships  15,  16  and  17  south,  ranges  11  and 
12  east  in  The  Dalles  land  district. 

The  Oregon  Trunk  and  Deschutes  Railroads  on  the  east 
side  of  the  river  both  parallel  the  project  with  the  towns  of 
Deschutes,  Redmond  and  Bend,  each  three,  four  and  five  miles 
distant  respectively  from  the  project,  thus  insuring  the  very 
best  transportation  facilities.  Laidlaw  is  three  miles  west 
of  Deschutes  and  seven  miles  north  of  Bend,  while  Cline  Falls 
is  four  miles  west  of  Redmond. 

BRIEF  HISTORY  OF  PROJECT. 

The  project  was  originally  taken  up  by  the  Three  Sisters 
Irrigation  Company,  their  water  appropriation  filings  on  the 
Tumalo  Creek  dating  back  as  far  as  1893.  They  commenced 
construction  of  their  canals  in  1900.  In  December,  1902,  the 
Three  Sisters  Irrigation  Company  entered  into  a  contract  with 
the  Desert  Land  Board  of  the  State  of  Oregon,  to  reclaim 
27,000  acres  of  desert  land  under  the  terms  of  the  Carey  Act. 
The  company  submitted  to  the  State,  a  statement  of  the 
amount  of  water  available  in  Tumalo  Creek,  plans  for  an 
irrigation  system  and  an  estimate  for  the  cost.  The  cost  of 
reclaiming  the  lands  was  fixed  at  an  average  price  of  $10.00 
per  acre,  and  $1.00  per  acre  annual  maintenance  fee. 

The  company  constructed  the  main  canal  and  main  laterals, 
and  sold  considerable  lands  and  water  rights.  The  Columbia 
Southern  Irrigation  Company,  who  were  the  successors  to  the 
Three  Sisters  Irrigation  Company,  soon  found  that  the  flow 
of  Tumalo  Creek  as  estimated  was  far  in  excess  of  the  actual 
minimum  flow,  and  trouble  arose  as  more  land  had  been  sold 
than  could  be  actually  irrigated  by  the  normal  flow  of  the 
creek.  The  State  notified  the  company  that  storage  reservoirs 
should  be  provided  before  the  State  would  apply  for  further 
patents  to  the  land  from  the  Government.  The  State  also 
cautioned  the  purchasers  of  patented  land  not  to  make  any 
more  payments  as  it  would  be  doubtful  if  they  would  secure 
the  lands  or  water  rights,  unless  storage  reservoirs  were  built. 

Much  dissatisfaction  resulted  among  the  settlers  on  account 
of  the  inadequacy  of  the  whole  system  and  the  shortage  of 
the  water.  The  result  was  that  a  report  on  the  project  was 
prepared  by  the  State  Engineer,  to  determine  the  value  of  the 
project  as  built  by  the  company,  and  determine  its  efficiency; 
but  nothing  definite  was  accomplished  in  the  way  of  a  reorgan- 
ization until  the  Oregon,  Washington  &  Idaho  Finance  Com- 
pany took  an  option  on  the  holdings  of  the  Columbia  Southern 


COLUMBIA   SOUTHERN   IRRIGATION   PROJECT.  17 

Irrigating  Company  and  obtained  a  preliminary  contract  with 
the  State  Desert  Land  Board  for  the  complete  investigation 
of  the  project. 

The  Oregon,  Washington  &  Idaho  Finance  Co.,  made  surveys 
and  complete  investigations  of  the  whole  project  including 
the  water  supply,  which  established  conclusively  the  feasibility 
of  the  project.  They  also  had  the  water-rights  under  Tumalo 
Creek  adjudicated,  and  completed  all  other  necessary  arrange- 
ments for  a  reorganization.  Under  date  of  February  1,  1911, 
a  deed  was  given  to  the  Oregon,  Washington  &  Idaho  Finance 
Company,  by  the  Columbia  Southern  Irrigating  Company, 
which  conveyed  all  their  holdings,  water-rights,  franchises, 
etc.  Under  date  of  December  15,  1911,  the  Oregon,  Washing- 
ton &  Idaho  Finance  Company,  gave  a  deed  to  the  State  of 
Oregon  for  all  its  rights,  franchises,  water-rights,  etc.,  so  that 
at  the  present  time  the  State  owns  the  project. 

On  March  1,  1912,  the  State  cancelled  the  original  Three 
Sisters  contract  and  executed  a  preliminary  contract  with  Mr. 
Alma  D.  Katz,  whereby  he  was  given  charge  of  the  project  and 
authorized  to  proceed  with  the  organization  of  a  company 
for  the  reconstruction  of  same.  In  this  contract  the  State 
agrees  to  execute  a  permanent  contract  with  Mr.  Katz,  or  his 
assigns,  establishing  a  lien  on  the  lands  under  the  Carey  Act 
on  or  before  December  31,  1912,  provided  he  has  completed 
the  organization  of  a  company  that  is  prepared  to  construct 
the  project.  A  copy  of  the  contract  between  Mr.  A.  D.  Katz 
and  the  State  of  Oregon,  together  with  the  permanent  contract 
which  has  been  agreed  upon,  is  attached  to  this  report  marked 
"Exhibit  Number  1." 

LANDS. 

The  irrigable  lands  are  situated  at  an  elevation  from  100 
to  400  feet  above  the  Deschutes  River,  lying  for  the  most  part 
on  an  east  and  north  slope.  The  topography  of  the  country 
is  smoothly  rolling,  with  just  enough  slope  to  facilitate  irri- 
gation. The  elevation  above  sea  level  varies  from  2900  to 
3500  feet. 

The  lands  for  which  water  rights  will  be  sold  are  divided 
into  two  classes;  those  segregated  by  the  State  under  the 
Carey  Act,  and  those  held  under  private  ownership.  The 
Carey  Act  withdrawals  are  held  under  two  lists,  the  original 
segregation  list  number  13  of  27,000  acres,  and  temporary 
withdrawal  list  number  34  of  4700  acres.  Of  this  total  num- 
ber of  31,700  acres  withdrawn,  about  24,000  acres  are  esti- 
mated as  irrigable  land,  the  balance  being  classed  as  non- 

Sig.    2 


18  COLUMBIA    SOUTHERN    IRRIGATION    PROJECT. 

irrigable  either  on  account  of  lying  too  high  to  be  susceptible 
of  irrigation  or  on  account  of  being  rocky  or  waste  land. 
Water  rights  for  the  balance  of  11,000  acres  of  irrigable  land 
will  be  sold  to  owners  of  private  land.  The  total  number  of 
acres  of  irrigable  land  available  under  the  project  is  between 
40,000  and  45,000,  with  a  gross  area  of  about  60,000  acres  so 
that  there  is  a  great  deal  more  land  available  than  water  to 
supply  same. 

Nearly  all  the  lands  are  covered  with  sage  brush  and  bunch 
grass,  with  large  portions  covered  with  juniper  trees.  The 
junipers  are  of  large  growth,  can  be  very  easily  uprooted  and 
are  of  some  value  as  fence  posts  and  wrood. 

The  soil  is  composed  of  disintegrated  lava  and  is  commonly 
called  volcanic  ash  and  pumice  dust.  Much  of  the  lava  is  soft 
and  porous  instead  of  being  hard  and  brittle,  and  the  dis- 
integrated rock  becomes  a  soil  capable  of  retaining  a  large 
amount  of  water.  The  soil  although  fertile  in  most  cases,  is 
not  uniformly  deep,  varying  according  to  the  proximity  to 
rock  ridges.  Lands  under  the  Columbia  Southern  project  are 
deeper  than  those  across  the  Deschutes  River  under  Central 
Oregon  Irrigation  Company's  segregation,  and  it  is  conceded 
by  the  local  people  that  the  lands  are  much  better.  In  places 
clay  and  gravel  are  found,  and  there  are  a  few  localities  in 
which  there  is  gravely  loam.  The  surface  soil  is  in  general 
about  five  feet  deep,  although  it  varies  from  2  to  8  feet  before 
it  strikes  the  gravely  subsoil.  The  land  has  an  even  drainage 
and  there  is  no  possibility  of  any  portion  of  it  becoming  wet 
and  swampy.  At  the  present  time  there  are  no  indications 
whatever  of  existing  alkali.  In  general  the  lands  are  good  and 
with  water  they  raise  good  crops.  Some  of  the  best  lands 
were  taken  up  before  the  segregation  was  made  by  the  State, 
and  upon  inquiry  I  find  that  nearly  all  the  lands  in  private 
ownership  are  anxious  to  buy  water  as  they  cannot  depend  on 
a  crop  without  it. 

An  analysis  of  the  soil  under  the  project  has  been  made 
and  is  attached  hereto,  marked  "Exhibit  Number  5." 

CLIMATE. 

The  nearest  station  where  records  have  been  kept  by  the 
United  States  Weather  Bureau  is  at  Bend,  six  miles  from 
Laidlaw.  The  elevation  at  Bend  is  3,630.  The  contents  of 
this  paragraph  are  obtained  principally  from  the  climatological 
service  of  the  Weather  Bureau.  In  general  the  climate  is  dry 
and  subject  to  great  extremes  of  temperature;  there  is  an 
abundance  of  sunshine  and  for  that  reason,  as  well  as  the 


COLUMBIA   SOUTHERN    IRRIGATION    PROJECT. 


19 


dryness  of  the  air,  the  extremes  of  temperature  are  not  so 
noticeable  as  they  otherwise  would  be.  In  the  vicinity  of  the 
project  the  temperature  sometimes  goes  below  the  freezing 
point  in  mid-summer,  but  does  not  remain  below  this  mark 
long  enough  to  injure  hardy  vegetation.  Sometimes  the 
temperature  raises  above  100  degrees,  but  such  great  heat  is 
rare  and  does  not  last  long.  There  are,  usually,  short  spells 
every  winter  with  zero  temperatures  and  weather  of  this 
character  may  occur  in  December,  January,  or  February,  but 
seldom  is  so  low  a  mark  reached  in  November  or  March, 
although  in  these  months  it  has  been  that  cold  on  a  few 
occasions. 

The  precipitation  in  the  bottom  of  the  Deschutes  Valley 
averages  about  12  inches,  and  increases  rapidly  with  the 
elevation,  being  about  86  inches  at  the  summit  of  the  Cascade 
Mountains.  At  Bend  the  average  precipitation  is  about  16 
inches.  The  precipitation  is  heaviest  in  the  winter  months 
and  lightest  in  July  and  August.  There  is  a  secondary 
maximum  in  May  and  June,  which  is  welcome  as  it  comes  at 
the  season  of  the  year  when  the  crops  need  the  most  moisture ; 
this  secondary  maximum  is  very  pronounced  at  Bend.  About 
23%  of  the  precipitation  occurs  in  the  form  of  snow  which 
may  fall  in  small  quantities  as  early  as  November,  but  is 
heaviest  in  January.  The  snow  cover  generally  disappears 
sometime  in  March,  although  a  light  snow  fall  has  sometimes 
occurred  in  April. 

The  following  statistics  were  obtained  from  the  weather 
bureau  and  represent  an  average  covering  a  period  of  eight 


years : 


STATION,   BEND,   OREGON. 


Precipitation 

Mean 
temperature 

Highest 
temperature 

Lowest 
temperature 

Average  depth 
of  snowfall 

Annual                

16.08 

44.8 

102 

—19 

45.9 

January 

2.48 

30.  9 

59 

—19 

13.5 

1.97 

34 

66 

—19 

9 

March 

2.  '27 

36.8 

72 

—13 

6 

April 

.83 

43.4 

84 

8 

1.2 

May  
June  
July 

.95 
1.15 
.56 

49  ^ 
62!  7 

93 
93 
102 

11 

22 
28 

.3 

August  --- 
September  

October                         

.35 
.51 
.40 

62.1 
53.7 
49.3 

98 
92 
86 

26 
12 
14 

November 

2.46 

29.2 

69 

—  4 

8.1 

December              

2.10 

81.9 

61 

—11 

10.8 

The  prevailing  direction  of  the  wind  is  southwest.  Strong 
winds  are  not  as  a  rule  frequent  in  the  vicinity  of  the  project, 
but  when  they  do  occur  it  is  usually  in  the  spring  of  the  year 
and  last  for  about  two  or  three  days.  On  account  of  cool 


20  COLUMBIA    SOUTHERN    IRRIGATION    PROJECT. 

nights,  uncertain  winds,  and  by  comparison  with  similar 
regions,  I  have  estimated  the  evaporation  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  project  about  48  inches  per  annum. 

Sand  storms,  which  often  occur  on  arid  lands  in  the  west, 
are  unknown  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Columbia  Southern  Project, 
on  account  of  the  lands  being  covered  with  sage  brush  and 
juniper  trees,  scarcity  of  wind  storms,  and  the  volcanic  origin 
of  the  soil. 

Although  a  slight  frost  may  occur  at  night  in  almost  every 
month  of  the  year,  crop  failures  from  this  source  are  prac- 
tically unknown  where  access  is  had  to  water  for  irrigation. 
Several  instances  have  come  to  the  writer's  notice  under  the 
Columbia  Southern  Project  when  slight  frosts  occurring  in 
May,  might  injure  quite  materially  a  crop  raised  by  dry 
farming  methods,  but  in  an  adjacent  field  where  irrigation 
was  used  no  bad  effects  could  be  noticed.  When  no  irrigation 
is  resorted  to  the  climatological  service  of  the  Weather  Bureau 
has  found  for  the  Deschutes  Valley  that  when  a  temperature 
of  26  degrees  is  reached  damage  usually  ensues,  and  the 
interval  between  the  last  temperature  of  26  degrees  in  the 
spring  and  the  first  in  the  fall  constitute  the  growing  season 
for  the  staple  crops  raised  in  the  valley.  This  season  usually 
begins  the  middle  of  May  and  lasts  until  the  middle  of 
September. 

CROPS. 

Under  the  project  at  the  present  time  there  are  about  4,000 
acres  irrigated  from  Tumalo  Creek,  which  is  the  chief  source 
of  the  water  supply  for  the  project.  There  are  no  crop  fail- 
ures where  irrigation  is  practiced,  and  where  water  is  avail- 
able for  use  when  needed.  The  farmers  under  the  project 
have  raised  crops  now  for  over  seven  years  so  the  crops  are 
no  longer  an  experiment  but  they  have  demonstrated  what 
can  be  done.  Grasses  of  all  kinds  thrive;  alfalfa,  clover  and 
timothy  do  very  well.  Two  and  three  crops  are  cut;  where 
but  two  are  cut  the  field  is  usually  used  for  pasture  for  the 
balance  of  the  season.  From  three  to  six  tons  of  alfalfa  and 
clover  are  raised  per  season  to  the  acre,  while  individual 
farmers  sometimes  cut  as  high  as  three  tons  at  one  cutting. 
Undoubtedly  when  the  whole  project  is  put  under  irrigation 
three  good  crops  of  alfalfa  or  clover  should  be  the  rule. 
Vegetables  of  all  kinds,  potatoes,  turnips,  beets,  onions,  etc., 
are  staple  crops  for  the  project.  Last  season  some  farmers 
on  small  tracts  raised  over  500  bushels  of  potatoes  to  the  acre. 
Grains  of  various  kinds  are  raised  quite  successfully,  but  up 
to  the  present  time  on  account  of  the  high  prevalent  prices  for 


COLUMBIA   SOUTHERN   IRRIGATION   PROJECT.  21 

hay,  most  of  the  grains  have  been  cut  for  that  use.  Individual 
farmers,  however,  have  threshed  from  25  to  40  bushels  of 
wheat  per  acre.  Fruit  and  berries  are  successfully  raised 
on  the  project  by  individual  farmers  in  isolated  districts,  but 
on  account  of  the  altitude  and  frost  conditions  these  crops  can 
not  be  considered  as  staple,  nor  could  they  be  raised  com- 
mercially with  success. 

Hog  raising  and  dairying  is  especially  adapted  to  the 
project.  These  industries  have  already  commenced  and  as  to 
the  ultimate  success  of  them  there  can  be  no  doubt,  as  the 
conditions  are  especially  favorable  for  production,  while  good 
transportation  facilities  are  already  at  hand  to  convey  the 
products  to  a  ready  market  at  Portland. 

WATER  SUPPLY  AND  HYDROGRAPHIC  DATA. 

The  chief  source  of  water  supply  for  the  project  is  Tumalo 
Creek,  which  is  one  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Deschutes  River, 
which  has  its  source  among  the  snow  covered  peaks  of  the 
Cascade  Mountains.  The  drainage  area  of  the  creek  has  been 
estimated  by  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey  as  45  square  miles, 
at  the  gaging  station  established  above  the  intake  of  the  old 
Columbia  Southern  canal.  The  flow  of  Tumalo  Creek  will  be 
supplemented  by,  1st,  the  increased  drainage  area  of  Tumalo 
Creek  of  about  10  square  miles,  caused  by  the  new  location 
of  the  proposed  feed  canal  about  eight  miles  down  the  stream 
from  the  old  headgate;  2nd,  the  flow  of  Crater  Creek,  Little 
Crater  Creek  and  various  springs  which  have  their  source 
from  glaciers  on  the  top  of  Broken  Top  Mountain ;  3rd,  by  the 
run  off  from  the  Tumalo  Reservoir  drainage  area,  which 
covers  approximately  25  square  miles  and  includes  the  Bull 
Creek  Spring  which  flows  continuously. 

I.    TUMALO  CREEK. 

The  flow  of  Tumalo  Creek  is  quite  uniform  in  comparison 
with  most  mountainous  streams  in  the  west.  The  minimum 
flow  recorded  is  about  60  c.  f.  s.,  while  the  usual  maximum  is 
about  450  c.  f.  s.  The  maximum  recorded  flow  up  to  the 
present  time  is  820  c.  f .  s.  The  uniform  flow  is  due  to  the 
supply  of  the  creek  from  springs,  glaciers  and  the  even  melt- 
ing of  the  snow  in  the  mountains,  aided  no  doubt  by  the  fact 
that  a  great  portion  of  the  drainage  area  is  heavily  timbered, 
most  of  which  is  withdrawn  as  a  forest  reserve. 

The  gaging  station  on  Tumalo  Creek  was  established  by 
the  Government  on  May  15,  1906.  Six  measurements  of  the 
flow  were  made  in  1905,  however,  which  have  been  used,  and 


22 


COLUMBIA    SOUTHERN    IRRIGATION    PROJECT. 


are  of  benefit  only  inasmuch  as  they  show  that  it  was  not  a 
season  of  minimum  flow.  The  first  station  established  was 
located  about  one-half  mile  above  the  headgate  of  the  Columbia 
Southern  canal  and  below  the  headgate  of  the  Wimer  Ditch. 
The  gage  heights  at  this  station,  called  the  Laidlaw  Station, 
were  read  only  during  the  irrigation  season  from  April  to 
October,  and  the  discharge  obtained  by  adding  the  flow  of  the 
creek  and  the  Wimer  canal.  On  April  1,  1908,  the  gaging 
station  was  moved  to  a  point  about  one  and  one-half  miles 
above  the  intake  of  the  Columbia  Southern,  and  about  300 
feet  above  the  Wimer  canal.  This  station  is  called  the  New 
Laidlaw  Station.  During  the  winter  months,  however,  no 
records  have  been  kept  at  the  Laidlaw  or  New  Laidlaw 
Stations,  except  the  season  October,  1908  to  April,  1909,  but 
another  station  was  used  at  the  Bend-Sisters  bridge  which  is 
located  about  8  miles  down  the  stream  from  the  New  Laidlaw 
Station.  This  station  at  the  bridge  is  called  the  Bend  Station. 
The  intake  of  the  new  feed  canal  is  located  about  one  mile 
down  the  creek  from  the  Bend  Station  and  about  two  miles 
above  the  mouth  of  the  creek. 

The  records  of  the  flow  of  Tumalo  Creek  for  each  irrigation 
year  from  May,  1906,  by  months,  is  as  follows: 


Month 

1905-6 

1906-7 

1907-8 

1908-9 

1909-10 

1910-11 

A.  F. 

Sta. 

A.  F. 

7,860 
14,  400 
8.920 
14.400 
11.400 
9.280 
7,910 
17.2(10 
19.200 
16.700 
7,670 
6,700 

Sta. 

A.  F. 

Sta. 

A.  F. 

Sta. 

A.  F. 

Sta. 

A.  F. 

Sta. 

Oct 

.   .   ,„ 

L&W 
B 
B 
B 
B 

L.&W 
L&  W 
I..&W 
L,&  W 
L&W 
I.&W 

6,390 
4.430 
5.290 
5.540 
5,630 
5.440 
7,560 
9,590 
17,000 
16,  '200 
5,  540 
5,000 

L&W 
B 
B 
B 
B 
B 
N  L, 

N  r, 

N  L, 
N  L, 
N  L, 
N  L, 

5,820 
*5,500 
*5.360 
4,840 
4,290 
4,670 
*7,220 
10,  400 
15,800 
9,350 
5.580 
4,960 

N  L, 
B 
B 
N  L, 
N  1, 
N  I, 

4,890 
*14.4(K) 
*8.920 
*5,000 
*5.000 
*5,000 
8.070 
12.  100 
9,580 
6,330 
4,960 
4.760 

N  L, 

4,920 
4,110 
6.820 
5,060 
5,040 
*5,530 

N  X, 
B 
B 
B 
B 

Nov 

|S£o 

Dec. 

Jan  — 
Feb.  .. 
March.... 
April 

111 

37.150 



N  I, 
N  L 
N  L, 

N  :L 

N  L 
N  L, 

5,670 
8.240 
15.900 
8,610 
4,480 
4.040 

N  L, 

N  TL, 

N  L 
NL 
NL 
N  L, 

May  
June  
July  
August  ... 
Sept. 

13.770 
15,670 
13,  430 
6,190 
6,000 

L&W 
L&W 
L&  W 
L.&W 
L&W 

N  L 
N  L, 
N  L, 
N  L 
N  L. 

Totals  .. 

92,210 

141.640 

93,610 

83,790   

88,910 

78,370 

In  the  above  table  the  following  letters  designate  the  station 
at  which  the  records  were  kept : 

L — Laidlaw  station. 

W — Wimer  canal. 

B — Bend  station. 

NL — New  Laidlaw  station. 

*  During  November  and  December,  1908,  the  records  were 
kept  at  the  Bend  station  so  about  3,000  feet  that  was  run  into 
the  Columbia  Southern  and  Wimer  canals  were  lost  from  the 


COLUMBIA   SOUTHERN   IRRIGATION   PROJECT.  23 

records;  the  above  record  contains  this  additional  amount. 
During  April,  1909,  and  March,  1911,  there  were  no  readings 
recorded,  so  for  those  months  conservative  average  figures 
have  been  used  to  complete  the  records.  During  November 
and  December,  1909,  the  largest  continued  flood  ever  known 
on  Tumalo  Creek  took  place  and  continued  throughout  the 
winter.  The.  gaging  stations  were  washed  away,  thus  the 
records  were  lost  for  these  months,  but  for  a  basis  of  com- 
pleting the  above  table  the  flow  of  November  and  December, 
1906,  was  used,  although  it  is  known  that  more  water  run 
off  in  1909.  Some  water  was  also  lost  from  the  record  in 
November  and  December,  1907  and  1910,  on  account  of  water 
turned  into  the  Columbia  Southern  and  Wimer  canals,  when 
the  record  was  kept  at  the  Bend  station,  but  the  amounts 
were  undoubtedly  small  so  no  account  was  taken  of  them  in  the 
above  table. 

From  the  foregoing  it  is  plainly  evident  that  the  irrigation 
year  from  October  1,  1910,  to  October  1,  1911,  is  the  lowest 
year  on  record  in  seven  years,  including  the  season  1905.  For 
the  year  1910-1911,  however,  the  recorded  flow  of  78,370,  acre 
feet  is  obtained  as  shown,  from  the  New  Laidlaw  and  Bend 
stations.  To  obtain  the  flow  of  the  creek  at  the  intake  location 
of  the  new  Feed  canal,  it  will  be  necessary  to  make  certain 
corrections  for  the  months  of  April  to  September,  inclusive. 
As  the  winter  flow  from  October  to  March  inclusive  was 
obtained  at  the  Bend  station  located  about  one  mile  above 
the  new  intake  location,  there  would  be  only  a  very  slight 
increase  in  the  flow,  so  that  will  be  neglected  as  it  is  on  the 
side  of  safety. 

II.  INCREASED  DRAINAGE  AREA  OF  TUMALO  CREEK. 

There  are  several  methods  that  can  be  used  to  determine 
approximately  the  increase  in  the  available  water  supply,  due 
to  the  increased  drainage  below  the  New  Laidlaw  station. 
1st,  by  comparison  with  the  drainage  area  of  Tumalo  Creek; 
2nd,  by  comparison  with  drainage  areas  in  the  immediate 
vicinity;  3rd,  by  direct  comparison  in  increase  of  stream  flow 
between  the  New  Laidlaw  station  and  the  Bend  station  by 
a  series  of  simultaneous  measurements.  These  three  methods 
will  be  discussed  briefly  in  the  following  paragraph : 

1st.  The  drainage  area  of  Tumalo  Creek  at  the  New  Laid- 
law Station  is  estimated  at  45  square  miles,  and  the  annual 
minimum  run  off  for  season  1910-1911  is  recorded  at  78,370 
acre  feet,  which  is  equivalent  to  1,742  acre  feet  per  square 
mile,  or  about  33  inches  for  the  entire  drainage  area.  The 


24 


COLUMBIA    SOUTHERN    IRRIGATION    PROJECT. 


precipitation  at  Bend  is  about  16  inches  per  annum,  so  the 
precipitation  of  the  10  square  mile  area  would  be  slightly 
in  excess  of  that  or  about  20  inches.  The  precipitation  of  the 
Tumalo  Creek  area  would  range  between  24  and  86  inches 
with  a  probable  average  of  60  inches.  The  areas  are  very 
similar  in  character,  so  from  the  recorded  run-off  of  the  por- 
tion above  the  New  Laidlaw  Station  of  33  inches,  we  obtain 
a  run-off  of  11  inches  from  the  lower  10  square  miles  by  direct 
comparison  of  precipitation,  which  is  equivalent  to  5,800  acre 
feet  per  annum  for  a  low  year.  This  is  only  an  increase  of 
7.40f/r,  whereas  the  drainage  area  is  increased  22.22r^ . 

2nd.  From  the  recorded  run-off  of  the  Deschutes  River  at 
Benham  Falls  we  find  that  the  flow  amounts  to  15  inches  for 
a  drainage  area  of  1,480  square  miles,  which  would  compare 
favorably  with  the  lower  portion  of  Tumalo  Creek.  At  this 
same  rate  of  run-off  the  flow  from  the  10  square  miles  of 
increased  area  of  Tumalo  Creek  would  be  estimated  at  7,000 
acre  feet. 

3rd.  For  the  spring  and  early  summer  months,  namely: 
April,  May  and  June,  a  direct  computation  can  be  made  from 
actual  measurements,  made  by  the  United  States  Geological 
Survey  in  1907  and  1908,  on  the  Tumalo  Creek  at  the  Laidlaw 
and  Bend  Station.  These  measurements  wrere  made  in  such 
a  manner  that  we  may  consider  them  as  simultaneous. 


Date 

Station 

Discharge 

April  14,  1907 

MEASUREMENT    NO.   1. 

Laidlaw  (old)... 

120  c.  f.  s. 

April  15,  1907 

Bend 

148  c.  f.  s. 

April  14,  1907 

Wimer  Canal  

22  c.  f.  s. 

April  14,  1907 

Columbia  Southern  Canal  . 

46  c.  f.  s. 

May  3,  1907 

MEASUREMENT    NO.  2. 

Laidlaw  (old)._. 

142  c.  f.  s. 

May  4,  1907 

Bend    ... 

108  c.  f.  s. 

May  3  1907 

Wimer  Canal 

23  c.  f  s. 

May  5,  1907 

Columbia  Southern  Canal 

52  c.  f.  s. 

April  1  1908 

MEASUREMENT    NO.  8. 

Laidlaw  (old) 

69  c.  f.  s. 

April  1   1908 

Laidlaw  (new)  

92  c.  f.  s 

April  1    1908 

Bend 

46  c.  f.  s 

April  1   1908        

Wimer  Canal.    ...    , 

24  c,  f.  s 

April  1  1908 

Columbia  Southern  Canal 

62  c.  f.  s 

June  23  1908 

MEASUREMENT    NO.   4. 

Laidlaw  (new) 

176  c   f  s 

June  23,  1908                           

Bend  

62  c.  f  .  s 

June  94,  1908 

Wimer  Canal 

26  c.  f.  s 

June  23,  1908  „  

Columbia  Southern  Canal  .. 

93  c.  f.  s 

COLUMBIA   SOUTHERN   IRRIGATION   PROJECT. 


25 


From  the  above  measurements  the  following  deductions  have 
been  made: 

TOTAL  FLOW  OF  TUMALO  CREEK   INCLUDING  DIVERSIONS. 


Date 

Laidlaw 
stations 

Bend 
station 

Increase 
c.  f.  s. 

Per 
cent 

April  14,  1907  ... 

142  C   f   S 

21  fi  (•    f    <s 

May  8,  1907    .. 

165  c   f  s 

April  1,  1908 

92  C   f  s 

132  c   f  s 

June  23,  1908... 

176  c  f  s 

181  f»    f   <s 

This  shows  quite  clearly  that  during  the  early  spring  months 
the  inflow  below  the  upper  station  is  quite  large,  decreasing 
in  May  and  June,  due  to  the  fact  that  the  run-off  from  the 
snow  and  rain  on  the  lower  part  of  the  drainage  area  takes 
place  during  the  early  months.  These  four  measurements 
cover  a  period  of  nearly  three  months,  from  April  1st  to 
June  23rd,  and  the  percentage  of  increase  varies  from  43% 
and  50%  in  April  to  11%  for  May  and  3%  in  June.  These 
measurements  give  averages  of  increase  of  38%  for  April, 
91/2%  in  May  and  4%%c  for  June,  or  applied  to  the  flow  for 
1911  would  net  2,155  A.  F.  for  April,  783  A.  F.  for  May  and 
689  A.  F.  for  June,  or  a  total  of  3,627  A.  F.  Inasmuch  as  there 
is  a  very  slight  chance  of  increase  during  the  remaining  sum- 
mer months,  and  as  the  winter  flow  was  obtained  from  the 
Bend  Station,  this  estimate  of  3,627  acre  feet  should  be  con- 
servative when  compared  to  the  probable  increase  for  the  entire 
annual  run-off  as  estimated  by  the  1st  and  2nd  methods. 

3.    CRATER  CREEK,  LITTLE  CRATER  CREEK,  ETC. 

The  water  of  Crater  Creek  and  Little  Crater  Creek,  which 
have  their  sources  from  glaciers  on  the  top  of  Broken  Top 
Mountain,  can  be  diverted  into  the  Tumalo  Creek  drainage 
basin  by  a  canal  or  conduit  with  comparatively  slight  cost. 
Broken  Top  Mountain  has  an  elevation  of  about  3,500  feet 
above  sea  level.  The  drainage  area  of  Crater  Creek  and  Little 
Crater  Creek,  including  the  two  glaciers  and  the  perpetual 
snow  line  above  our  canal  location,  is  about  six  square  miles 
and  to  divert  this  water  will  require  a  canal  about  8,000  feet 
in  length. 

From  the  records  of  the  Climatological  Bureau  of  the  Gov- 
ernment the  precipitation  at  the  top  of  the  Cascade  Mountains 
is  estimated  at  about  86  inches  per  annum.  A  precipitation  of 
86  inches  over  an  area  of  six  square  miles  would  furnish 
27,600  A.  F.,  and  estimating  that  about  one-half  of  this  pre- 


26  COLUMBIA    SOUTHERN    IRRIGATION    PROJECT. 

cipitation  would  appear  as  run-off,  there  would  be  available 
from  this  source  about  13,800  A.  F.  The  drainage  area  is  very 
rocky  and  a  very  small  amount  of  surface  soil  covers  the  area, 
so  except  for  evaporation  there  will  be  very  small  losses,  and 
the  run-off  should  exceed  50 '/  of  the  precipitation. 

On  August  4,  1910,  Mr.  Fred  N.  Wallace,  irrigation  manager 
at  Laidlaw,  accompanied  by  several  other  men  made  a  trip 
into  the  mountains  to  examine  these  sources  of  water  supply 
around  Broken  Top  Mountain.  He  reported  that  in  Crater 
Creek  alone  at  that  time  there  was  about  15  c.  f.  s.  available 
and  that  in  Little  Crater  Creek  there  was  a  little  in  excess  of 
that  amount  available  making  a  total  of  over  30  c.  f.  s. 

I  made  the  investigation  of  Crater  Creek  and  Little  Crater 
Creek  on  the  17th  and  18th  of  September,  1910.  At  this  time 
it  was  already  quite  cold  upon  the  mountain,  snow  falling  for 
about  three  hours  during  our  visit  there.  There  is  one  decided 
advantage  over  this  source  of  water  supply,  inasmuch  that  the 
warmer  the  weather  the  larger  the  run-off,  due  to  the  melting 
of  the  ice  at  the  top  of  the  mountain.  On  September  18th, 
early  in  the  morning  the  flow  in  these  two  creeks,  during  very 
cold  weather  was  about  11  c.  f.  s.  It  increased  toward  noon 
to  about  15  c.  f.  s.  As  the  source  of  Tumalo  Creek  is  of  prac- 
tically the  same  nature  as  those  of  Crater  Creek  and  Little 
Crater  Creeks,  the  flow  throughout  the  year  except  during  the 
spring  freshet  months,  would  be  very  similar  as  to  the  per- 
centage of  flow  during  each  month.  There  is  some  possibility 
of  Crater  Creek  and  Little  Crater  Creek  flowing  more  in  pro- 
portion during  the  real  hot  weather.  Using  the  flow  of  Tumalo 
Creek  during  the  normal  low  year  as  a  criterion,  and  with  the 
flow  of  Crater  Creek  and  Little  Crater  Creek  on  August  4th 
and  September  18th  as  a  guide,  I  have  prepared  the  following 
estimate  of  the  probable  run-off  of  these  two  creeks  during 
a  normal  low  year : 

ESTIMATED    FLOW   OF   CRATER   AND   LITTLE    CRATER   CREEKS 
NORMAL    LOW    YEAR    FLOW. 

Month.  C.  F.  8.        Acre  Feet. 

October    10  600 

November    .  5  300 


December 
January  ... 
February  . 

March    

April    

May    

June   

July    

August     ... 
September 


5  300 

5  300 

10  600 

20  1200 

25  1500 

30  1800 

35  2100 

35  2100 

25  1500 

15  900 


Total  acre  feet  ..   13200 


COLUMBIA  SOUTHERN   IRRIGATION   PROJECT.  27 

ESTIMATED    FLOW    OF   CRATER   AND   LITTLE   CRATER    CREEKS 
NORMAL  LOW  YEAR  FLOW. 

The  winter  flow  of  Crater  Creek  may  be  lost  in  whole  or 
part  due  to  freezing  conditions,  but  I  estimate  this  would  not 
amount  to  more  than  1500  A.  F.  as  the  flow  is  at  a  minimum 
during  the  winter. 

With  the  duty  of  water  at  1.8  acre  feet  (22  inches)  net  on 
the  ground,  as  set  forth  in  your  contract  with  the  State,  allow- 
ing 25%  loss  due  to  the  distribution  system,  6%  to  the  reser- 
voir, and  7r/(  to  the  feed  canal,  the  gross  amount  necessary  at 
the  headgate  for  one  acre  would  be  about  2.70  acre  feet.  Apply- 
ing the  duty  to  the  water  available  from  Crater  Creek,  Little 
Crater  Creek,  etc.,  we  find  there  is  sufficient  for  about  5,000 
acres. 

Applications  for  permits  to  use  the  waters  of  Crater  Creek, 
Little  Crater  Creek  and  three  small  springs  up  to  50  c.  f.  s. 
continuous  flow  have  been  filed  with  the  State  Engineer,  as 
well  as  application  for  the  construction  of  a  reservoir  for 
storage  purposes.  These  applications  were  number  952  and 
953  respectively,  and  were  received  September  9,  1910,  at 
8 :00  o'clock  A.  M.  at  the  office  of  the  State  Engineer,  who  under 
date  of  February  27,  1911,  issued  a  permit  to  use  the  waters 
provided  construction  was  commenced  on  or  before  February 
27,  1912,  continued  with  diligence  and  completed  on  or  before 
February  27,  1915.  Under  date  of  February  27,  1912,  a  report 
was  made  to  the  State  Engineer  that  actual  construction  was 
commenced  on  February  20,  1912,  so  that  we  have  a  good  prior 
right  to  these  waters  at  the  present  time. 

4.    RUN-OFF  FROM    TUMALO  RESERVOIR   BASIN. 

The  drainage  area  of  the  Tumalo  Reservoir  is  separate  from 
that  of  Tumalo  Creek,  comprising  about  25  square  miles.  The 
only  continuous  flow  of  water  at  the  present  time  is  Bull  Creek 
Spring,  which  flows  uniformly  about  2  c.  f .  s,,  from  < ne  corner 
of  the  basin.  The  annual  precipitation  varies  from  about  16 
inches  at  the  lower  end  to  about  30  or  40  inches  in  the  higher 
altitudes,  coming  for  the  most  part  in  the  winter  time  in  the 
form  of  snow.  The  average  precipitation  would  probably 
exceed  20  inches.  The  run-off  from  the  basin  occurs  in  the 
late  winter  or  early  spring  months,  as  the  result  of  melting 
snow.  As  the  greater  portion  of  the  area  is  covered  with 
surface  soil  and  vegetation  the  run-off  would  be  small  in  com- 
parison with  precipitation.  When  Tumalo  Dam  is  built,  how- 
ever, any  seepage  that  would  find  its  way  to  the  lower  eleva- 


28  COLUMBIA    SOUTHERN    IRRIGATION    PROJECT. 

tions  would  be  stopped.  The  proposed  reservoir  covers  1405 
acres,  so  that  direct  precipitation  on  the  water  surface  area 
of  16  inches  would  be  saved.  It  is  also  safe  to  assume  that 
the  run-off  from  the  25  square  mile  area  would  at  least  be  four 
inches  or  one-fifth  of  the  average  precipitation,  especially  when 
the  run-off  from  the  adjacent  drainage  area  of  Tumalo  Creek 
by  actual  measurement  record  is  33  inches,  and  the  Deschutes 
River  by  measurement  at  Benham  Falls  is  15  inches.  A  run- 
off of  four  inches  over  the  25  square  miles  would  amount  to 
5333  acre  feet.  The  increase  in  the  annual  water  supply  there- 
fore from  this  source  would  be  estimated  as  follows : 

Bull   Creek   Spring,    2    c.   f.   s 1450  acre  feet 

Precipitation  of  16   inches  on  reservoir 1320  acre  feet 

Run-off    from    25    square    miles 5330  acre  feet 

Total    8100  acre  feet 

SUMMARY  OF  WATER  SUPPLY. 

As  set  forth  in  Exhibit  No.  1,  the  amount  of  water  necessary 
for  irrigation  has  been  determined  at  1.8  acre  feet  per  annum 
net  at  delivery  points.  Considering  the  nature  of  the  crops, 
soil,  length  of  irrigation  season,  the  cool  nights,  etc.,  I  believe 
this  amount  sufficient  and  adequate.  Until  the  entire  area 
under  the  project  is  under  cultivation,  while  the  constructed 
canals  are  new  and  the  economical  use  of  water  is  understood, 
the  loss  in  the  distribution  system  is  liable  to  be  large,  so 
accordingly  they  have  been  estimated  herein  at  25%  of  the  net 
amount  to  be  delivered.  The  loss  in  the  proposed  New  Tumalo 
Feed  Canal  of  300  c.  f.  s.  capacity,  has  been  estimated  at  one 
per  cent  per  mile  or  7%  of  the  total  amount  diverted  at  the 
creek.  The  losses  at  the  reservoir  although  uncertain  are 
expected  to  be  small,  because  it  is  entirely  surrounded  by  solid 
rock.  The  evaporation  has  been  estimated  as  48  inches  per 
annum  or  four  inches  per  month  for  the  average  monthly  water 
surface  area,  or  3970  acre  feet.  In  addition  2700  acre  feet 
have  been  estimated  as  a  probable  loss  due  to  interference  of 
ice  on  the  Tumalo  Feed  Canal,  while  1500  acre  feet  has  been 
estimated  as  the  loss  for  the  same  cause  on  the  Broken  Top 
Diversion  of  Crater  Creek.  There  may  be  some  loss  at  the 
Diversion  Dam  on  Tumalo  Creek  due  to  limited  capacity  of 
the  canal.  The  Wimer  Ditch,  which  at  the  present  time  sup- 
plies water  to  lands  in  the  vicinity  of  the  reservoir  can  be  pur- 
chased in  connection  with  the  lands  needed  for  the  reservoir. 
This  ditch  with  very  little  work  could  be  put  in  good  condition 
to  carry  50  c.  f.  s.,  so  with  the  New  Tumalo  Feed  Canal, 
capacity  300  c.  f.  s.,  the  maximum  diversion  capacity  would 


COLUMBIA  SOUTHERN  IRRIGATION  PROJECT.  29 

be  350  c.  f.  s.  For  the  seasons  of  record  on  Tumalo  Creek  the 
amount  that  would  be  lost  due  to  the  limited  capacity  is  as 
follows  :  Year  and  acre  feet  wasted  above  350  capacity :  1906, 
305;  1907,  3,201;  1908,  1,243;  1909,  288;  1910,  0;  1911,  264. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  for  the  years  of  low  record  the  loss 
is  correspondingly  much  less  due  to  the  capacity  of  the  canals. 
This  will  be  slightly  increased,  however,  when  supplemented 
by  the  flow  of  Crater  Creek.  For  instance,  for  season  1911, 
the  low  year,  the  loss  for  Tumalo  Creek  alone  is  264  acre  feet, 
which  would  be  increased  to  608  acre  feet  when  the  estimated 
flow  of  Crater  Creek  is  added  to  the  peak  of  the  flood.  There 
may  also  be  a  slight  loss  due  to  the  increased  length  of  the 
Wimer  Canal  over  the  new  feed  canal,  but  on  account  of  being 
used  only  during  the  irrigation  season  of  six  months,  and  then 
only  in  quantities  ranging  from  10  to  50  c.  f.  s.,  the  loss  could 
not  exceed  1000  acre  feet. 

The  amount  of  water  available  from  the  various  sources 
may  be  tabulated  as  follows,  estimated  for  1911,  the  lowest 
year  of  record : 

Aore  Feet. 

Tumalo  Creek  as  recorded  --  78,370 

Increase   of    10    square   miles'    area 3,630 

Crater    Creek,    Little    Crater    Creek,    etc 13,200 

Bull    Creek    Spring 1,450 

Precipitation    of    16    inches    on    reservoir    area 

Run-off    reservoir    basin    25    square    miles 5,330 

Total     103,300 

The  irrigation  requirements  and  losses  may  be  tabulated 
as  follows  on  a  basis  of  35,000  acres  of  irrigable  land : 


Requirements    net    on    ground    1.8   %a.    f.    per    acre 

25  per  cent  loss  on  distribution  system  ... 
Evaporation  and  reservoir  losses  ... 

Loss  due  to  ice  on  feed  canal 

Loss  due  to  limited  capacity  of  350  c.  f.  s.  ... 

Loss  due  to  ice  on  Broken  Top  Division 

Loss  in  Wimer  Canal  on  account  of  additional  length  .. 
Loss  in  feed  canals  at  7  per  cent  gross  diverted .'. 


63,000 

15,750 

3.970 

2,700 

610 

1,500 

1,000 

6,230 


Total     -   94,760 

From  the  above  two  tabulations  it  would  appear  that  there 
is  sufficient  water  available  for  a  total  of  35,000  acres,  with  a 
surplus  of  8,540  acre  feet  remaining.  The  year  1911  is  the 
lowest  of  record  in  seven  years,  so  it  is  very  safe  to  base  the 
calculations  on  that  year,  and  should  there  appear  a  lower 
year  once  in  10  or  12,  we  have  a  surplus  of  over  8,000  acre 
feet  which  can  be  used  to  carry  over. 

The  irrigation  season  has  been  set  from  April  15th  to  October 
15th  each  year.  From  the  various  sources  above  tabulated 


30  COLUMBIA    SOUTHERN    IRRIGATION    PROJECT. 

there  would  be  available  from  October  15  to  April  15,  1910- 
1911  for  storage  the  following  amounts: 

Acre  Feet. 
Tumalo  Creek  ...  -   31,720 


Crater  Creek,  etc 

Bull  Creek  Spring  

Run-off  from  reservoir  basin  

Precipitation   on   reservoir   area 


3,750 

725 

5,330 

1,870 


Total     43,395 

The  following  losses  are  estimated  for  the  same  period  as 
above : 

Acre  Feet. 

One-half  evaporation  on  reservoir   1,960 

Loss  due  to  ice  on  feed  canal 2,700 

Loss  due  to  ice  on  Broken  Top  Division 1,500 

Loss  in  feed  canal,  7  per  cent  gross  flow  ...  2,600 

Total     8,760 

The  difference  between  43,395  and  8,760  or  34,635  acre  feet, 
is  then  available  for  storage  during  the  non-irrigating  season. 
The  following  tabulation  of  the  water  supply  losses  and  irriga- 
tion requirements  shows  that  with  the  water  supply  as  com- 
puted and  the  total  reservoir  capacity  at  32,218  acre  feet, 
there  would  be  still  available  4,980  acre  feet  as  a  surplus 
in  the  reservoir  at  the  close  of  the  irrigation  season.  There 
would  also  be  a  surplus  of  3,395  acre  feet  that  would  be  lost  due 
to  limited  capacity  of  the  reservoir  over  and  above  the  irriga- 
tion requirements. 


Surplus  to  waste 

!       !       !                     '     IN"       !     i-*                    !     -r 

00* 

Amount    in    reservoir  at  the 
close  of    each  monthly   pe- 
r  od,    maximum   capacity 
32,218  A,  F. 

S225s^s^i§ili§ 

9>lt~2£S.clg3S3£S3::<0'T< 

Irrigation  requirements  1 
A.  F.  net  on  ground  plus  25 
per  cent  for  distribution  for 
35.000  acres 

!               ;        '     Q     S?     o     o     cr     o     o 

1 

R 

;     ;     ;                ;    §    t-    »$    8    8    §    is 

r     *.     ft     J§     ft     |5  .  *f  '  •f 

Amount  available  at  head  of 
lateral  system  and  reservoir 

iliil-sgsgssi 

S 

IN     •*     «c     tea     10*     t-*     oc*     o"     w     »     »o     •**     ^ 

Estimated  loss  in  reservoir  bv 
evaporation 

*S&863!SSSSi  S 

g 

«* 

Average  area  of  water  surface 
in  reservoir  —  acres 

§iii§iiiii§ii 

By  all  combined  sources 
(totals) 

Skills!  lillls 

8 

IN       -V       «0       10*       10*       NT      00*       O       «>"       0»       10*       •*       rN* 

•g         By  precipitation  on  the 
>            actual  water  surface 
g     i       area 

s  8  §  1  i  ^  S  S  *  «  ** 

3         By 
vo 

runoff  from    reser- 
ir  basin 

1  1  §  *  i  i      1      Mil 

rf 

"*     "*     ^       i       !               ill! 

~         By  Bull  Creek  Spring 

Q 

SSSSS^^gggggS 

1 

By  feed  canals  (net) 

OTMi—  IIN<NI>O(NO>OO!N»-*M 

5 

(N       CO*       10*       SO       <*       »0*       00*       01*       »       0>*       10*       -**       (M* 

Seepage,  etc.. 
in  canals 

T  n  m  al  o  Feed 
Canal  on  basis 
of  7  per  cent 

S  £  1  1  i  1  1  g  8  g  I  1  S 

i 

Wimer  Canal 

i     i                    3    8    §    g    |    8    g 

!- 

I     i 

Losses 

Interference 
with  ice 

Tumalo   Feed 
Canal 

11111 

IN* 

Broken  top  diver- 
sion 

sgillli 

§ 

On  account  of  limited 
capacity  of  feed  canals 

i  !  i  i  i  i  i     i 

1 

1      !      !      ;      !            IS            i            it 

1    Total   amount   available  at 
headgate  of  new  feed  canal 

|  $  I  1  i  g  |  I  I  8  8  1  8 

1  ! 

S 

IN"     •*"     t-*     10*     10*     «"     o»     o     QO     o     10     •«*     *T 

i    Flow  of  Crater  Creek,  Little 
Crater  Creek,  etc. 

1  i  i  I  I  8  1  g.  1  1  1  1  1 

1 

Estimate  of  increase  in  dis- 
charge   at  the   new   intake 
of    feed  canal.    (Bend  sta- 
tion) 

i    i        i    i    i  §  1  1 

80 

l          *1 

II                              ill 

Recorded 
Creek 

flow  of   Tumalo 

§§lllSIS§ll§i 

I 

9$        ^€QU3U3"^u50OOOO         ^^rH 

Year  1910-1911.    Month 

i  i  i'-j'i  ]  ii  i  jjj'iJ 

Totals- 

32  COLUMBIA    SOUTHERN    IRRIGATION    PROJECT. 

Inasmuch  as  the  computations  in  the  table  are  based  on 
the  low  year  record  1910-1911,  and  there  appears  to  be  a  sur- 
plus of  4,980  acre  feet  in  the  reservoir  at  the  close  of  the  irriga- 
tion season,  it  hardly  seems  advisable  to  increase  the  storage 
capacity,  for  the  only  benefit  that  could  be  obtained  would 
be  a  larger  surplus  which  probably  would  not  be  needed  the 
following  season.  The  surplus  of  3,395  acre  feet  may  also 
be  considered  as  an  additional  factor  of  safety  over  the  esti- 
mated losses  in  feed  canal  and  reservoir.  The  minimum  reser- 
voir capacity  required  as  per  the  table  to  serve  35,000  acres 
would  be  32,218  less  4,979— or  27,239  acre  feet.  In  our  plans 
and  estimates,  however,  the  capacity  of  32,218  acre  feet  has 
been  used. 

The  duty  of  water  at  1.80  acre  feet  net  on  the  ground  is 
approximately  22  inches.  In  the  above  hydrographic  table 
the  irrigation  requirements  have  been  based  on  the  following 
use  of  water  on  a  basis  of  35,000  acres  of  irrigable  land,  after 
a  careful  study  of  the  conditions  on  the  ground  and  the  prob- 
able distribution  during  the  irrigation  season  from  April  15 
to  October  15. 

The  following  table  is  for  inches  on  ground  and  acre  feet  for  35,000  acres 
(1.8  acre  feet  plus  25  per  cent  for  loss  per  acre)  : 

Month.                                                                                   Inches.  Acre  Feet. 

April    15-30    1V2  5,400 

May     3  10,700 

June    4  14,350 

July    5  17,900 

August    5  17,900 

September    2%  9,000 

October    1-15    1  3,500 


Totals 22  78,750 

In  the  above  computations,  for  the  capacity  of  the  reservoir 
and  of  the  amount  of  water  available,  the  winter  flow  of  the 
creek  was  considered  after  making  deductions  for  loss  through 
interference  with  ice.  In  the  present  constructed  main  canal 
of  the  Columbia  Southern  Project  it  is  impossible  to  run  water 
in  the  coldest  part  of  the  winter  for  the  reason  that  the  head- 
gate  is  located  in  the  mountains  at  an  increased  elevation  of 
1,000  feet,  and  the  canal  is  so  poorly  constructed  that  trouble 
might  arise.  In  a  canal  designed  as  the  new  feed  canal,  there 
should  be  no  difficulty  in  that  climate  to  divert  the  water  in 
the  winter.  Usually  each  winter  there  is  a  short  period  of  cold 
weather,  rarely  exceeding  30  days,  during  which  time  suffi- 
cient ditch  walkers  should  be  maintained  to  keep  the  ice  on 
the  move  and  wasted  at  the  different  waste  ways  provided. 

Over  a  large  portion  of  the  segregation  water  for  stock  and 
domestic  purposes  can  be  obtained  from  wells,  and  this  will 


COLUMBIA   SOUTHERN   IRRIGATION    PROJECT.  33 

no  doubt  be  possible  in  nearly  all  localities  after  irrigation  has 
been  carried  on  more  extensively  than  at  the  present  time.  In 
the  meantime  water  can  be  filtered  and  stored  in  cisterns  or 
reservoirs,  which  has  been  done  to  some  extent  in  a  few  places 
previous  to  this  time. 

In  the  report  which  Mr.  D.  C.  Henny,  consulting  engineer, 
rendered  on  this  project  under  date  of  August  11,  1910,  he 
used  the  flow  of  1909  of  Tumalo  Creek  as  his  criterion  for 
determining  the  number  of  acres  that  could  be  irrigated.  At 
the  time  his  report  was  written  the  records  for  1909,  1910 
and  1911  had  not  been  published  by  the  Geological  Survey,  so 
the  flow  for  1909  was  estimated  from  the  available  gauge 
heights  and  data  at  hand.  His  estimate  for  1909  and  the  pub- 
lished record  as  now  herein  contained  do  not  vary  materially. 
The  records  for  1909  as  used  by  Mr.  Henny  are  incomplete, 
but  with  certain  safe  assumptions  he  concluded  that  there  was 
sufficient  water  to  irrigate  30,000  acres  and  he  still  had  a 
surplus  of  4,800  acre  feet.  The  unusual  low  flow  of  November 
and  December,  1908,  has  been  investigated  and  it  has  been 
found  that  the  Columbia  Southern  and  Wimer  canals  both 
run  considerable  water  during  these  two  months,  which  was 
not  included  in  the  government  record  which  was  obtained 
from  the  Bend  station.  This  is  also  true  concerning  the  record 
of  November,  1907.  Taking  the  low  flow  for  the  winter  months 
from  October  to  March,  1907-1908  and  from  October  to  March, 
1908-1909,  and  comparing  them,  it  is  evident  that  about  3,000 
A.  F.  was  lost  in  the  record  for  November  and  December,  1908, 
especially  when  corroborated  by  Mr.  Fred  N.  Wallace,  the 
irrigation  manager  of  the  Columbia  Southern  canal  and  Mr. 
Geo.  W.  Wimer  of  the  Wimer  canal.  In  his  report  Mr.  Henny 
took  no  account  of  the  flow  of  Bull  Creek  Spring,  which  flows 
into  Tumalo  Reservoir,  which  flows  about  1500  A.  F.  per 
annum.  Taking  the  surplus  water  according  to  Mr.  Kenny's 
report  as  4,800  A.  F.,  the  amount  lost  in  government  record 
of  November  and  December,  1908,  at  3000  A.  F.,  the  flow  of 
Bull  Creek  Spring  at  1500  A.  F.,  and  the  estimated  amount  of 
13,200  A.  F.,  from  Crater  and  Little  Crater  Creeks,  we  have 
a  total  of  21,700  A.  F.  over  and  above  the  requirements  as 
estimated  by  Mr.  Henny  for  30,000  acres,  in  his  report  dated 
August  11,  1910.  A  copy  of  Mr.  Kenny's  report  is  attached 
hereto,  marked  exhibit  number  7. 

PROPOSED  WORKS. 

The  irrigation  project  as  proposed  herein  involves  the  re- 
building of  the  entire  Columbia  Southern  Project,  which  will 


34  COLUMBIA    SOUTHERN    IRRIGATION    PROJECT. 

consist  of  the  building  of  the  Broken  Top  Diversion  Canal,  the 
enlargement  of  the  Wimer  Ditch,  the  construction  of  the  New 
Tumalo  Feed  Canal,  complete  storage  works  and  a  complete 
distribution  system  to  water  35,000  acres  of  land.  These  works 
will  be  built  according  to  the  standard  designs  and  according 
to  the  best  up-to-date  methods  of  construction.  Complete  plans, 
specifications  and  estimates  accompany  this  report.  They  have 
been  prepared  with  great  care  after  considerable  work  and 
deliberation. 

BROKEN  TOP  DIVERSION  CANAL. 

The  location  of  this  canal  is  about  25  miles  southwest  of 
Laidlaw,  near  Broken  Top  Mountain,  and  its  object  is  to  divert 
the  flow  of  Crater  Creek,  Little  Crater  Creek,  and  various 
springs  into  the  drainage  area  of  Tumalo  Creek.  The  weather 
at  Broken  Top  Mountain  is  such  that  this  work  must  be  done 
in  the  middle  of  summer.  The  months  of  June,  July,  August 
and  September  are  most  preferable,  for  during  the  remainder  of 
the  year  rain  and  snow  would  delay  the  work  to  a  considerable 
extent.  This  work  should  be  done  during  the  season  1912 
or  1913  and  simultaneous  with  it  a  record  of  the  water  avail- 
able should  be  kept  so  the  additional  amount  of  land  that  it 
could  serve  could  be  correctly  determined.  In  order  to  reach 
the  canal  location  with  equipment  and  supplies  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  build  a  trail  from  the  old  Columbia  Southern  Canal 
heading  up  into  the  mountains. 

As  this  construction  work  will  be  quite  remote  from  trans- 
portation and  as  it  will  be  very  difficult  to  get  equipment  and 
supplies  on  the  ground,  I  have  made  very  liberal  allowances  on 
these  estimates,  and  have  computed  all  excavations,  etc.,  on  a 
basis  of  hand  work. 

The  capacity  of  the  canal  has  been  estimated  at  50  cubic 
feet  per  second  on  a  grade  of  one  foot  per  1000  (.001)  so  as 
to  make  the  minimum  section.  The  work  involved  in  diverting 
these  two  creeks  into  the  drainage  area  of  Tumalo  Creek  should 
be  done  during  the  season  of  1912.  There  will  be  approxi- 
mately 3,000  feet  that  will  be  rather  expensive  work  consist- 
ing of  side-hill  and  some  rock  work.  As  some  of  the  rock  is 
of  rather  poor  quality,  it  may  be  necessary  to  line  a  portion  of 
this  with  a  thin  layer  of  concrete.  That  portion  which  will  be 
lined  will  probably  cost  about  $6.00  per  foot  including  the 
lining,  but  the  total  of  3,000  feet  I  have  estimated  at  $4.50  per 
foot.  About  2,000  feet  will  be  through  earth  and  gravel  thor- 
ough cut,  the  maximum  cut  being  about  12  feet  and  averaging 
about  eight  fe*et.  This  portion  I  have  estimated  at  $2.00  per 


COLUMBIA   SOUTHERN  IRRIGATION   PROJECT.  35 

foot.  The  remaining  3,000  feet  will  be  comparatively  easy 
canal  work  less  than  one  yard  to  the  foot,  which  I  have  esti- 
mated at  60  cents  per  lineal  foot.  I  have  estimated  also  on 
four  small  concrete  headings  at  the  diversion  points  of  Crater 
Creek,  Little  Crater  Creek  and  two  springs.  A  waste  way  or 
two  will  also  be  necessary  to  limit  the  flow  of  water  in  the 
canal  in  case  of  an  excessive  flood  that  may  occur. 

ENLARGEMENT  OF  WIMER  DITCH. 

The  Wimer  ditch  is  owned  and  used  at  the  present  time  by 
Geo.  W.  Wimer  and  Sons,  who  own  600  acres  of  land  within 
the  limits  of  the  proposed  reservoir ;  P.  A.  Woolley,  who  owns 
320  acres  in  the  reservoir,  and  L.  J.  Wimer  and  C.  H.  Spaugh 
who  own  480  acres  adjoining  the  reservoir.  Arrangements 
have  been  made  for  the  purchase  of  these  lands  including  all 
water  rights  and  the  ditch.  The  subject  of  these  land  purchases 
will  be  more  fully  taken  up  under  the  subject  of  storage  works. 
The  ditch  is  at  the  present  time  in  fair  condition  and  will  with 
a  few  repairs,  alterations  and  enlargements  be  able  to  maintain 
a  flow  of  50  c.  f.  s.  This  ditch  is  valuable  in  connection  with 
the  feed  canal  in  supplying  the  reservoir,  especially  during  the 
flood  period.  It  could  also  be  used  in  connection  with  the  irri- 
gation of  about  2,000  acres  of  fine  land  which  lie  above  the 
high  water  elevation  of  the  reservoir.  I  estimate  that  about 
$5,000.00  would  be  necessary  to  repair  and  enlarge  this  Wimer 
ditch. 

FEED  CANAL. 

The  new  feed  canal  has  been  located  throughout  its  entire 
length  on  the  ground.  The  intake  is  situated  on  Tumalo  Creek 
near  the  center  of  Section  23,  Township  17  South,  Range  11 
East,  about  eight  miles  below  the  intake  of  the  old  Columbia 
Southern  canal  and  about  two  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Tumalo  Creek.  The  feed  canal  is  about  seven  miles  in  length 
and  located  throughout  its  entire  length  in  the  township  above 
mentioned;  the  drop  into  the  reservoir  occurring  near  the  *4 
corner  of  the  north  line  of  Section  4.  In  general,  can  say  that 
the  location  of  this  canal  is  a  very  good  one. 

The  first  half  mile  of  the  canal  is  located  in  Tumalo  Canyon 
on  a  shell  rock  and  debris  side  hill.  A  bench  will  be  excavated 
into  the  side  hill  and  the  canal  will  consist  of  a  wooden  flume 
built  on  sills  upon  the  bench  excavated.  Flume  also  will  be 
used  for  about  one-half  mile  in  Howard  Canyon  where  the 
location  of  the  canal  falls  just  below  the  rim-rock.  With  the 


36  COLUMBIA    SOUTHERN    IRRIGATION    PROJECT. 

exception  of  about  1,000  feet  of  solid  rock  thorough  cut  and  two 
small  draw  crossings,  the  balance  of  the  canal  is  located  on 
nearly  flat  ground  with  level  cuttings.  Test  pits  have  been 
dug  along  the  entire  length  of  the  location,  which  show  the 
exact  nature  of  the  material  to  be  excavated.  For  the  most 
part  this  excavation  will  consist  of  easy  earth  with  some 
gravel  and  boulders,  except  for  about  6,000  feet  near  the  reser- 
voir where  the  surface  rock  is  quite  thick  and  some  cemented 
gravel  will  be  encountered  in  the  bottom  of  the  canal. 

The  right  of  way  for  the  feed  canal  is  covered  with  vegeta- 
tion. In  Tumalo  Canyon  there  is  considerable  brush  for  a 
short  distance,  but  for  the  balance  of  the  canal  the  growth  con- 
sists of  scattering  pine,  juniper  and  sage  brush.  The  right 
of  way  for  this  canal  can  be  purchased  at  a  very  reasonable 
figure;  the  ground  ought  to  be  cleared  for  about  $40.00  per 
acre. 

The  feed  canal,  including  all  sections,  is  designed  to  carry 
300  c.  f.  s.,  but  is  capable  350  c.  f.  s.  maximum  flow.  The 
canal  as  located  will  have  a  bottom  width  of  20  feet,  side  slopes 
2  to  1,  depth  4.75  feet  with  an  allowance  of  two  feet  from  the 
water  surface  to  the  top  of  the  canal  berm.  The  grade  is 
.003  giving  a  velocity  of  2.3  feet  per  second  with  an  assumed 
value  of  "n"  at  .024.  This  grade  and  velocity  ought  to  allow 
the  silt  to  settle  in  the  canal  and  form  a  tight  canal  and  cause 
no  washing  of  the  banks.  The  economic  cutting  for  the  above 
section  is  about  3.4  feet  and  the  above  section  was  accordingly 
chosen  on  account  of  the  fact  that  the  test  pits  revealed 
cemented  gravel  in  a  great  many  places  and  solid  rock  in  a 
few  places  at  a  depth  between  three  and  four  feet.  This  canal 
is  of  sufficient  size  and  enough  quantities  are  involved  to  use 
a  steam  shovel  or  drag  scrapers  for  the  excavation,  provided 
slip  scrapers  are  used  in  distributing  the  material  and  tramp- 
ing down  the  banks. 

Flumes  have  been  designed  with  an  inside  width  of  10  feet 
and  depth  of  water  of  five  feet.  The  value  of  "n"  has  been 
assumed  at  .012  because  rough  lumber  may  be  used  for  this 
construction.  With  a  grade  of  .0007,  the  velocity  is  six  feet 
per  second.  The  lumber  for  the  sides  and  bottoms  of  the 
flumes  should  be  sized,  and  joints  to  insure  tightness  should  be 
made  in  accordance  with  the  detail  on  Drawing  No.  9.  There 
is  an  abundance  of  timber  in  the  near  vicinity  of  the  project 
and  by  going  far  enough  back  into  the  hills,  lumber  of  a  good 
quality  and  sufficient  quantities  can  be  obtained.  The  price 
asked  for  lumber  at  the  present  time  is  about  $14  per  thousand 
feet  B.  M.  There  will  be  enough  lumber  needed  in  the  con- 


COLUMBIA   SOUTHERN    IRRIGATION   PROJECT.  37 

struction  of  these  flumes  to  warrant  the  company  in  putting 
in  their  own  saw  mill  plant  and  in  this  way  a  sufficient  amount 
of  lumber  could  be  obtained  as  needed  at  minimum  cost 

Just  before  entering  the  Howard  Canyon,  a  rock  cut  with 
maximum  cut  of  14  feet  is  encountered.  It  is  approximately 
1,000  feet  long  and  an  increase  of  grade  over  the  earth  section 
with  a  decrease  bottom  width  is  justifiable  to  decrease  the 
quantities.  This  cut  is  made  18.4  feet  wide  on  the  bottom  with 
side  slopes  of  i/>  to  1,  "n"  being  assumed  at  .035.  At  the  lower 
end  of  this  rock  cut  there  is  a  drop  in  the  grade  of  the  canal 
of  about  12  feet,  so  that  the  location  of  the  flume  in  Howard 
Canyon  will  be  below  the  rim-rock.  This  drop  will  consist  of 
a  concrete  weir  lip,  placed  on  solid  rock  at  the  upper  end  and 
a  water  cushion  basin  excavated  in  solid  rock  at  the  lower 
end. 

The  drop  into  the  reservoir  from  the  feed  canal  will  be  about 
400  feet  long,  and  consist  of  a  cut  in  solid  rock  excavated 
about  15  feet  wide  and  three  feet  deep.  A  small  basin  may 
be  excavated  at  the  bottom  of  the  drop  so  as  to  avoid  cutting. 
This  drop  will  be  about  25  feet  in  height. 

In  order  to  eliminate  outlet  works  at  the  auxiliary  Bull 
Creek  Dam  and  also  to  eliminate  passing  of  water  through 
the  reservoir,  a  by-pass  will  be  constructed  from  the  feed  canal 
to  connect  with  the  spillway  channel  of  the  Bull  Creek  Dam, 
thus  delivering  the  water  into  the  main  canal  below  Bull  Creek 
Dam.  This  by-pass  need  only  be  about  100  c.  f.  s.  capacity. 
At  the  end  of  the  by-pass  above  the  spillway  channel  a  small 
concrete  weir  lip  will  be  placed  to  maintain  the  slope  of  the 
water  as  designed  for  the  by-pass. 

The  diversion  dam  or  weir  on  Tumalo  Creek  is  designed  to 
be  built  of  concrete.  It  is  designed  to  accommodate  a  flow 
of  350  c.  f.  s.  into  the  canal,  and  in  case  of  maximum  high 
water  of  the  creek,  will  satisfactorily  take  care  of  about  1,500 
c.  f.  s.  or  about  two  times  the  maximum  high  water  and  three 
times  the  normal  high  water  of  Tumalo  Creek.  The  first  500 
feet  of  canal  from  the  diversion  weir  will  be  in  earth  from 
which  point  the  flume  will  commence.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
flume  in  Tumalo  Canyon  a  waste-way  will  be  provided  to 
handle  any  surplus  water  diverted  into  the  canal.  Such  waste- 
ways  will  also  be  located  at  the  Tewksbury  and  Howard  Can- 
yon flume  crossing,  in  order  to  be  able  to  easily  dispose  of  float- 
ing ice  during  the  winter  season. 

Completed  specifications  covering  the  work  involved  on  the 
feed  canal  will  be  found  in  Exhibit  No.  3. 

Photographs  showing  the  intake  of  the  canal  on  Tumalo 
Creek,  Tumalo  Canyon,  the  Tewksbury  and  Howard  Canyon 


COLUMBIA    SOUTHERN    IRRIGATION    PROJECT. 


flume  crossings,  the  drop  in  the  reservoir,  the  drop  in  solid 
rock,  and  a  typical  view  of  the  canal  locations  in  earth,  are 
shown  in  Exhibit  No.  4. 

STORAGE   WORKS. 

One  reservoir  is  planned  in  connection  with  the  project  which 
I  have  named  Tumalo  Reservoir  on  account  of  the  fact  that 
Tumalo  post-office  is  located  at  the  present  time  in  the  reser- 
voir basin  which  has  been  known  up  to  this  time  as  Wimer 
Flat.  The  reservoir  is  located  about  five  miles  due  west  of 
Laidlaw  in  Sections  4  and  5,  Township  17  South,  and  Sections 
29,  30,  31,  32  and  33,  Township  16  South,  all  in  Range  11  East. 
The  natural  conditions  are  very  favorable  for  a  storage  reser- 
voir, the  site  being  surrounded  by  solid  rock  formation  which 
is  at  least  three-quarters  of  a  mile  thick,  with  the  exception  of 
two  gaps  which  will  be  closed  by  Tumalo  and  Bull  Creek 
dams.  Even  at  the  dam  sites,  nature  has  done  her  part  by 
providing  solid  rock  ledges  which  outcrop  on  the  sides  and  are 
close  to  the  surface  at  the  bottom.  Test  pits  have  been  sunk 
at  both  dam  sites  uncovered  the  bedrock,  so  there  is  no  doubt 
about  the  depth  of  the  surface  soil.  The  test  pits  are  shown 
on  Drawings  No.  6  and  7. 

The  proposed  capacity  of  the  reservoir  is  32,200  acre  feet, 
which  has  been  obtained  from  a  capacity  curve,  Drawing  No.  5. 
The  total  area  of  the  reservoir  submerged  will  be  1,405  acres. 
Between  elevations  3,500  and  3,505  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
reservoir  there  is  a  depression  covering  127  acres  and  con- 
taining 450  acre  feet  which  will  be  drained  by  a  cut  as  shown 
on  drawing  No.  3.  The  approximate  cost  of  this  cut  is  $500.00. 

Within  the  reservoir  there  are  920  acres  of  land  owned  by 
Geo.  W.  Wimer  and  Sons  and  P.  A.  Wooley,  which  have  a  water 
right  from  Tumalo  Creek  carried  through  what  is  called  the 
Wimer  Ditch.  Arrangements  have  been  made  for  the  satis- 
factory purchase  of  this  land  and  water  rights. 

In  order  to  obtain  possession  of  the  Wimer  Canal  and  all 
water  rights  under  same  it  is  advisable  to  purchase  480  acres 
of  land  which  lie  a  short  distance  east  of  the  reservoir  and  are 
owned  by  L.  J.  Wimer  and  C.  H.  Spaugh.  About  120  acres 
of  the  Geo.  W.  Wimer  lands  will  not  be  flooded  by  the  reser- 
voir, and  this  together  with  the  480  acres  of  Wimer  and 
Spaugh  could  be  easily  resold  with  water  rights.  The  lands 
owned  by  Geo.  W.  Wimer  and  Sons,  P.  A.  Wooley,  and  Wimer 
and  Spaugh  will  cost  $66,000.00. 

The  balance  of  the  lands  in  the  reservoir  are  unimproved 
and  can  be  bought  for  about  $14,000.00.  They  are  covered 


COLUMBIA   SOUTHERN   IRRIGATION  PROJECT.         ,  39 

with  a  thick  growth  of  sage  brush,  so  there  will  be  no  necessity 
of  clearing  or  grubbing  within  the  reservoir.  The  ownership 
of  the  lands  within  the  reservoir  is  shown  on  Map  No.  13. 

At  the  present  time  there  is  about  five  miles  of  county  road 
within  the  limits  of  the  reservoir,  which  will  have  to  be  pro- 
vided for  before  the  actual  storage  of  water  takes  place.  This 
will  be  accomplished  by  locatmg  the  roads  on  the  east  side  of 
the  reservoir,  crossing  both  of  the  complete  dams  and  involves 
about  three  miles  of  road  constructions  which  will  cost  about 
$1,200.00.  The  dwelling  houses  and  barns  owned  at  the  pres- 
ent time  by  P.  A.  Wooley  and  Geo.  W.  Wimer  and  Sons  can  be 
very  economically  used  during  the  construction  of  the  two  dams 
as  construction  camps. 

The  borrow  pits  for  both  the  dams  are  located  within  the 
reservoir  showing  the  character  of  the  material  in  the  bottom 
of  same.  The  reservoir  being  underlaid  and  surrounded  by 
solid  rock,  the  probabilities  are  that  there  will  be  no  appreciable 
losses  from  the  reservoir  except  by  evaporation  which  ought 
not  to  exceed  48  inches  per  annum. 

TUMALO  DAM    AND   OUTLET    WORKS. 

The  main  storage  dam  is  called  Tumalo  Dam.  It  is  located 
in  the  canyon  at  the  lower  end  of  Wimer  Flat  about  !•%  miles 
north  of  Tumalo  post-office.  Bull  Creek  dam  is  situated  about 
two  miles  southeast  of  Tumalo  dam  and  about  one  mile  east 
of  Tumalo  post-office,  and  is  called  the  auxiliary  dam.  Tumalo 
dam  is  about  400  feet  long  on  top  and  about  20  feet  wide.  It 
will  be  built  to  a  top  elevation  of  3,526.50  with  a  3  to  1  upper 
slope  and  a  2  to  1  lower  slope.  The  maximum  fill  will  be  about 
80  feet  and  the  total  contents  about  109,000  cubic  yards.  This 
dam  will  have  a  concrete  core-wall  extending  from  the  solid 
bed  rock  on  the  bottom  to  an  elevation  of  3,522  or  two  feet 
above  the  spillway  elevation.  It  will  be  five  feet  wide  on  top 
and  approximately  ten  feet  wide  on  the  bottom  as  shown  on 
Drawing  No.  6.  The  complete  core-wall  as  planned  will  con- 
tain approximately  5,100  cubic  yards  of  concrete.  This  core- 
wall  is  designed  very  safe  and  an  alternate  design  has  been 
proposed  involving  steel  reinforcements  and  about  one-half 
the  quantity  of  concrete  would  reduce  the  cost  of  the  core-wall 
about  $25,000.00.  This  alternate  plan  may  be  adopted  after 
further  investigation  as  to  the  water  tightness  of  the  material 
in  the  borrow  pit  and  other  information  is  obtained  in  regard 
to  this  particular  class  of  concrete  steel  construction. 

A  cut-off  trench  will  be  excavated  along  the  center  line  of  the 
dam  to  bedrock,  which  will  be  refilled  with  water  tight  material 


40  COLUMBIA    SOUTHERN    IRRIGATION    PROJECT. 

on  both  sides  of  the  core-wall  as  shown  on  the  plans.  Along 
the  lower  toe  of  the  dam  a  drain  trench  will  be  excavated  to 
bedrock  which  will  be  refilled  with  loose  rock.  In  the  lowTer 
edge  of  this  trench  a  line  of  drain  tiling  will  be  placed  to  carry 
off  any  water  that  may  seep  into  the  trench.  The  two  slopes 
of  the  dam  shall  be  covered  for  a  thickness  of  three  feet  with 
a  loose  rock  fill  composed  of  rock  of  about  one  cubic  foot  in 
volume.  Such  excavation  as  is  suitable,  obtained  from  the  out- 
let tunnel  and  gate  shaft  will  be  used  for  this  riprap,  and  the 
balance  of  the  rock  shall  be  obtained  from  borrow  pits  opened 
up  above  the  top  of  the  dam  on  the  sides  of  the  canyon  where 
rock  of  a  suitable  character  is  in  abundance. 

There  are  also  two  alternate  plans  for  the  construction  of 
the  dam  embankment.  The  first  method  which  is  ordinarily 
used  in  earth  fill  dams,  namely,  that  of  depositing  the  material 
in"  six  inch  layers  sprinkling  and  rolling,  and  assorting  the 
material  so  as  to  place  the  water-tight  material  near  the  center 
of  the  dam.  The  nature  of  the  material  of  which  the  dam 
embankment  must  be  formed  is  of  such  character  that  this 
method  would  be  very  difficult  to  follow.  The  surface  soil  is 
very  light  and  of  such  character  that  suitable  water-tight 
material  would  be  very  difficult  to  separate.  Gravel  is  there 
more  or  less  abundant,  scattered  throughout  the  surface  soil. 
The  other  method  of  building  the  dam  embankment,  and  to  me 
it  appears  the  more  feasible,  is  as  follows : 

All  material  should  be  dumped  at  or  near  the  two  slopes 
of  the  dam  by  dump  wagons  or  dump  cars,  whichever  may  later 
be  decided  upon.  The  fine  water-tight  material  may  be  then 
graded  and  washed  into  place  by  means  of  a  stream  of  water 
from  a  nozzle  under  pressure.  The  material  could  be  thus 
automatically  separted  so  that  the  gravel  and  coarse  material 
would  lie  next  to  the  slopes,  the  fine  gravel  and  coarse  sand 
would  next  be  deposited  and  the  real  fine  sand  and  silt  would 
be  carried  to  the  center  of  the  dam  and  there  deposited  form- 
ing the  water-tight  portion  of  the  dam.  The  approximate  dis- 
tribution of  this  material  in  the  dam  is  shown  on  the  section 
on  Drawing  No.  1.  There  is  at  the  present  time  about  one 
mile  from  the  dam  site  at  a  suitable  elevation  to  furnish  the 
satisfactory  pressure,  a  ditch  of  such  capacity  as  to  carry  the 
required  amount  of  water.  I  have  estimated  that  about  2 
c.  f.  s.  should  be  sufficient  to  do  this  work. 

The  outlet  works  for  Tumalo  reservoir  will  be  located  at 
Tumalo  dam.  They  will  consist  of  a  tunnel  through  the  hill- 
side in  solid  rock  and  a  gate  shaft,  also  through  solid  rock, 
from  an  elevation  the  same  as  that  of  the  top  of  the  dam,  con- 
necting with  the  tunnel.  All  of  the  gate  shaft  and  the  portion 


COLUMBIA   SOUTHERN   IRRIGATION   PROJECT.  41 


of  the  tunnel  up  to  and  including  the  gate  chamber  will  be 
lined  with  concrete.  The  thickness  of  this  concrete  lining  will 
vary  from  1  to  2  feet,  depending  upon  the  importance  of  the 
position.  The  concrete  lining  of  the  gate  chamber  and  the 
gate  shaft  and  also  in  the  tunnel  where  necessary,  shall  be 
reinforced  with  steel  bars.  At  the  entrance  to  the  tunnel  a 
steel  grillage  will  be  placed  to  keep  floating  debris  from  enter- 
ing the  gates.  The  gates,  gate  rods  and  stands,  will  be  accur- 
ately and  substantially  set  in  concrete,  be  perfectly  aligned  and 
in  a  free  and  easy  working  condition.  A  gate  house  of  appro- 
priate design  will  be  constructed  over  the  gate  shaft. 

BULL  CREEK  DAM   AND  SPILLWAY. 

This  dam  will  have  a  top  width  of  20  feet  and  be  about  300 
feet  long  on  top.  It  will  be  constructed  to  an  elevation  of 
3,526.50,  have  a  maximum  fill  of  about  30  feet  and  contain 
about  10,600  cubic  feet  of  material.  The  side  slopes  will  be 
3  to  1  and  2  to  1  respectively  on  the  upper  and  lower  sides. 
Cut-off  trenches  and  drain  trenches  will  be  excavated  to  bed- 
rock as  shown  on  the  plans  and  be  refilled  in  a  manner  described 
for  Tumalc  dam  and  in  the  specifications.  Cut-off  walls  of 
concrete  will  be  built  in  the  cut-off  trench  to  such  heights 
as  shown  on  the  plans  to  prevent  the  water  from  following  the 
bedrock  and  thus  endanger  the  structure  and  cause  leaks.  A 
good  connection  will  be  made  with  the  cut-off  wall  and  the 
retaining  wall  which  is  to  be  placed  at  the  end  of  the  dam 
to  form  one  side  of  the  spillway.  All  solid  rock  excavated  from 
the  spillway  and  spillway  channel  will  be  placed  in  the  dam 
embankment  to  form  a  three  foot  layer  of  loose  rock  on  the 
upper  side  and  to  form  the  loose  rock  portion  of  the  dam  on 
the  lower  side,  as  shown  on  the  plans.  This  portion  of  the 
embankment  is  estimated  at  3,260  cubic  yards. 

The  test  pits  sunk  in  the  borrow  pit  for  this  dam  show  an 
abundance  of  good  clayey  material.  We  can,  therefore,  quite 
economically  build  this  dam  in  the  ordinary  manner  of  earth 
filled  dams,  by  depositing  the  material  in  thin  layers,  thor- 
oughly sprinkling  and  rolling,  the  same  as  described  in  detail 
in  the  specifications.  Water  for  sprinkling  is  available  a  short 
distance  from  the  dam  site  in  one  of  the  Columbia  Southern 
Irrigating  Company's  ditches. 

The  spillway  for  Tumalo  reservoir  is  situated  at  Bull  Creek 
dam.  It  will  consist  of  rock  excavation,  forming  a  level  bench 
at  an  elevation  of  3,519  to  the  axis  of  the  dam  where  a  con- 
crete weir  lip  70  feet  in  length  will  be  built  to  an  elevation  of 
3,520.  Below  this  weir  lip  a  spillway  channel  will  be  excavated 


42  COLUMBIA    SOUTHERN    IRRIGATION    PROJECT. 

through  the  solid  rock,  diverging  from  the  70  foot  width  at 
the  crest  to  20  feet  wide  56  feet  farther  down,  from  which 
point  the  channel  will  be  20  feet  wide  on  the  bottom  and  with 
i/t  to  1  side  slopes.  The  spillway  channel  will  be  excavated  on 
a  slope  of  7  to  1.  The  bottom  of  the  spillway  channel  will  con- 
nect with  the  main  canal  below  the  Bull  Creek  dam.  The 
excavation  involved  on  the  spillway  is  4,235  cubic  yards,  most 
of  which  is  solid  rock. 

The  drainage  area  of  Tumalo  reservoir  is  estimated  at  25 
square  miles.  The  only  occasion  for  a  spillway,  as  the  water 
is  diverted  into  the  reservoir  by  means  of  the  feed  canal,  is 
in  case  of  a  cloud  burst,  or  an  unusually  heavy  rain,  when  the 
reservoir  should  be  full.  The  annual  precipitation  of  this 
region  being  in  the  neighborhood  of  16  inches,  the  run-off,  if 
no  account  were  taken  of  evaporation,  would  be  from  12,000 
to  17,000  acre  feet.  If  all  this  precipitation  and  run-off  should 
occur  within  a  15-day  period,  in  place  of  being  distributed 
throughout  the  whole  year,  the  run-off  would  be  only  530  c.  f .  s. 
The  spillway  is  designed  for  a  discharge  capacity  of  630  c.  f .  s. 
which  ought  to  be  very  safe. 

An  alternate  plan  for  the  construction  of  the  Bull  Creek  dam 
and  spillway  has  been  prepared,  of  a  curved  concrete  stee!  type. 
This  dam  would  be  built  only  to  the  spillway  elevation,  heavily 
reinforced  with  steel,  so  as  to  make  a  spillway  of  the  whole 
length  of  the  dam.  The  total  length  of  the  dam  on  top  would 
be  190  feet  and  about  100  feet  at  the  bottom,  with  a  maximum 
fill  of  27  feet.  For  additional  spillway  length  and  to  provide 
rock  for  concrete  110  feet  could  be  excavated  on  the  south 
end  of  the  dam,  thus  making  a  total  spillway  of  300  feet.  The 
estimates  on  this  type  of  dam  show  the  cost  to  be  about  the 
same  as  for  the  earth  fill  type  so  the  estimates  of  the  earth 
dam  will  be  used. 

DISTRIBUTION    SYSTEM. 

Nearly  all  of  the  main  canals  which  were  constructed  by 
the  old  companies  will  be  abandoned.  Some  of  the  laterals, 
however,  that  were  constructed  last  are  in  such  condition  that 
they  can  be  used  when  properly  reconstructed  and  enlarged. 
The  distribution  system  as  planned  will  consist  of  about  140 
miles  of  main  canals  and  laterals,  with  the  necessary  structures, 
which  includes  about  65  miles  of  the  old  system  that  can  be 
used  after  reconstruction. 

The  lands  can  be  very  easily  divided  into  four  irrigation  dis- 
tricts: (1)  The  lands  in  the  vicinity  of  the  reservoir  above 
the  feed  canal;  (2)  the  lands  irrigated  direct  from  the  feed 
canal;  (3)  the  lands  irrigated  north  of  the  reservoir,  west  of 


COLUMBIA  SOUTHERN   IRRIGATION   PROJECT.  43 

Cline  Buttes  and  in  the  vicinity  of  the  lands  known  as  the 
Squaw  Creek  segregation;  and  (4)  the  lands  irrigated  by  the 
main  canal  which  runs  almost  due  east  from  the  outlet  of  the 
reservoir. 

The  approximate  amount  of  irrigable  land  in  each  separate 
district,  with  the  capacities  of  the  canals  as  planned,  are  as 
follows : 

Capacity 
Acres.  c.  f.  s. 

Above   feed   canal   2  000  20 

Feed   canal 9^00  300 

Main   canal   20,000  180 

North    canal    6,000  50 


Total     37,000 

Those  lands  which  lie  above  the  feed  canal  can  be  irrigated 
from  the  Wimer  Canal  by  repairing  and  enlarging  same  as 
previously  mentioned. 

The  lands  under  the  head  of  North  Main  Canal  are  situated 
in  Townships  15  and  16  South,  Range  11  East,  and  border 
on  Sqaw  Creek  segregation. 

The  lands  under  the  project  are  covered  for  the  most  part 
with  juniper  which  must  be  removed  before  cultivation  can 
take  place.  Loose  surface  rock  is  also  plentiful  in  places,  but 
where  thick  have  been  classified  as  waste  land.  The  soil  is 
rather  light  and  washes  quite  readily  so  the  side  slopes  of 
nearly  all  the  canals  will  be  2  to  1.  In  some  places  where  good 
lands  of  sufficient  amount  cannot  be  reached  by  canals,  flumes 
will  be  built.  All  the  structures  are  planned  of  wood. 

The  main  canal  and  some  of  the  laterals  have  been  located 
on  the  ground.  For  others  the  critical  points  have  been  deter- 
mined to  make  their  locations  feasible  from  the  topographic 
map.  Side  hill  construction  has  been  avoided  as  much  as  pos- 
sible on  account  of  solid  rock  and  flume  work.  To  prevent 
cutting  and  insure  tight  canals,  they  are  all  located  on  flat 
grades;  drops  constructed  of  wood  being  designed  to  convey 
the  water  from  a  higher  to  a  lower  level  where  necessary. 

The  sizes  of  the  various  canals  and  laterals  will  vary  from 
2  to  15  feet  in  bottom  width,  from  1  to  5  feet  in  depth,  and 
from  5  to  180  c.  f.  s.  in  capacity.  As  the  rotation  method  of 
delivering  water  for  irrigation  seems  to  be  gaining  favor  gen- 
erally and  may  be  applied  to  the  project,  the  smallest  laterals 
estimated  are  5  c.  f.  s.  capacity.  The  distribution  of  water 
is  estimated  at  each  man's  holdings,  in  tracts  not  larger  than 
160  acres  and  no  smaller  than  40. 

Drawing  No.  1  shows  a  topographic  map  of  the  State  segre- 
gated land  under  the  project  and  Drawing  No  2  shows  the 
distribution  system  as  designed,  with  the  size  of  the  canals 


44  COLUMBIA    SOUTHERN    IRRIGATION    PROJECT. 

and  laterals.     Drawing  No.  2  also  shows  the  waste  land  and 
lands  too  high  to  irrigate. 

ESTIMATES. 

The  following  includes  estimates  for  the  construction  of  the 
entire  project,  prepared  after  a  thorough  investigation  of  con- 
ditions as  they  exist  on  the  ground.  The  prices  of  materials 
and  plant  were  obtained  by  inquiry  at  Portland,  and  the  trans- 
portation charges  included  in  the  estimates.  All  the  unit 
prices  are  conservative  and  would  include  actual  cost  plus 
contractors'  earnings.  All  land  purchases  under  the  Wimer 
Ditch  are  included  under  cost  of  storage  works.  After  con- 
struction is  commenced  it  is  intended  to  establish  a  central 
office  at  Portland,  Oregon,  and  also  a  field  office  at  Laidlaw, 
Oregon,  so  that  land  sales  will  be  made  directly  through  these 
offices  by  men  in  the  company  employ.  Therefore  these  esti- 
mates do  not  provide  for  any  additional  cost  in  the  form  of  com- 
missions, but  the  expense  will  be  included  under  administration 
charges.  If  the  land  sales  are  effected  through  a  special 
agency  the  administration  charges  will  be  slightly  decreased, 
and  special  provisions  should  then  be  made  to  cover  land  sales 
or  commissions.  The  estimates  will  be  taken  up  in  the  order 
as  discussed  above. 

BROKEN    TOP    DIVERSION    CANAL. 
(Crater   Creek,   Little  Crater  Creek,    etc.) 

3000  feet  of  canal  at  $4.50  per  lineal  foot $13,500.00 

2000  feet  of  canal  at     2.00  per  lineal  foot 4,000.00 

3000  feet  of  canal  at       .60  per  lineal  foot 1,800.00 

Concrete  headings  at  diversion  points  and  wasteways 3,000.00 

Building  and  clearing  trail 800.00 


Total    $23,100.00 

ENLARGEMENT    OF    THE    WIMER    CANAL. 
This  has  been  estimated  at $   5,000.00 

ESTIMATE    ON    FEED    CANAL. 

Diversion    weir    $   5,000.00 

Flumes,    6000   feet   at    $5.25 31,500.00 

Trestles,   1000   feet  at   $2.00 2,000.00 

Excavation  for  flumes,   5000  lin.  ft.,  7500  cu.  yds.  at  40c....      3,000.00 
Canal  excavation,    8100   lineal  feet  of  canal — 

18,400   cubic  yards  at  $1.25 23,000.00 


13,500  cubic  yards  at  .50 

23,600  lineal  feet,  70,800  cubic  yards  at  30c 

Right  of  way — 

Cost   of   land,    about    80   acres 

Clearing  right  of  way 

By-pass  and  drop  into  reservoir 


6,750.00 

21,240.00 

1,600.00 

3,200.00 

3,000.00 

Construction  cost  of  feed  canal $100,290.00 


COLUMBIA   SOUTHERN   IRRIGATION   PROJECT.  45 


ESTIMATE    ON    TUMALO    DAM. 

Estimate    on    earth    fill  ;    plant — 

Steam  shovel    (25  ton),  capacity  one  cubic  yard $   9,000.00 

25   dump  wagons,  capacity  two  cubic  yards,  at   $130 3,250.00 

Ditch  for  puddling  water 1,000.00 

Pipe  and  pipe  connections:    2000  feet  8-inch  No.  10  steel 
riveted   pipe,    1000   feet    6-inch   No.    10   steel   riveted 

pipe,    4   giants,   pipe   connections 1,000.00 

Constructing    trestles,     dumping    platforms,     labor    and 

material    2,000.00 

Miscellaneous   supplies,    shovels,   picks,    hammers,    tools, 
blacksmith   outfit   and   supplies,   harness,    single  and 

double-trees,  etc 2,000.00 

Building  roads  at  the  dam 500.00 


Total    $18,750.00 

Price  per  cubic  yard  for  plant 20.420 

Labor — 

1  foreman   at   $5.00   $  5.00 

2  men  on  steam  shovel  at  $4.50 9.00 

2   laborers  on  steam  shovel  at  $2.25 4.50 

25   4-horse    teams   with    teamsters   at    $8.00 200.00 

1  giant  man  at  $3.00 3.00 

2  muckers  at  $2.25  4.50 

2   carpenters    at    $4.00 8.00 

1   blacksmith    at    $4.00    4.00 


Daily    cost    of    operation $       237.00 

Average    daily    output.    600    cubic    yards. 

Average    cost    per    cubic    yard 39.500 

Total    cost    per    cubic    yard 59.920 

Estimate    on    concrete — 

Cement  per  bbl.    (1  bbl.   to   1   cubic  yard) $ 

Mixing,    labor,    per    cubic    yard 

Placing,    labor,    per    cubic    yard 

Plant,    cost   per    cubic    yard ---. 

Sand    and    gravel    per    cubic    yard 

Forms,    per    cubic    yard 

Water,    per   cubic   yard ...  -  -20 

Total   cost   per   cubic   yard ..--$    •     11.00 

Estimate    on    dam — 

91,800  cubic  yards  earth  excavation  and  fill  at  600 $  55,080.00 

5,100  cubic  yards  concrete  core  at  $11.00 56,100.00 

2,550  cubic  yards  excavation  cut-off  trench  at  $1.25..  3,187.50 

2,200  cubic  yards  excavation  drain  trench  at   $1.00....  2,200.00 

21/2  acres  stripping  at  $300.00 

12,100   cubic   yards  riprap   at   $1.75 21,175.00 

1,500  cu.  yds.  excavation  for  tunnel  open  cut  at  $1.50  2,250.00 

400   feet  excavation   tunnel,    8x8   ft.   at   $20.00 8,000.00 

200  feet  concrete  lining,   300  cubic  yards  at  $18.00..  5,400.00 

70   feet   shaft  excavation,    14x14   ft.   at   $40.00 2,800.00 

75  feet  concrete  lining,   375  cubic  yards  at  $18.00..  6,750.00 

2   gates,   rods,   stands,   grillings,   etc.,   in  place 

1    gate   house   .. 

Construction    cost    Tumalo    dam ....$169,692.80 

ESTIMATE    ON    BULL    CREEK    DAM. 

Preparing    dam    site    $         150.00 

Excavation    for    cut-off    and    drain    trenches — 

600    cubic   yards   at    $1.00 : 

900   cubic  yards   at        .60 : 

Concrete   cut-off  walls,    650   cubic   yards  at   $11.00  ... 

Spillway  excavation,    4235   cubic  yards  at  MSS'Xn 

Concrete  on   spillway,    100   cubic  yards  at  $15.00  ... 

Dam    embankment — 

6700    cubic   yards   earth    fill   at    $0.40 

3260  cubic  yards  loose  rock  at     1.00  ... 

Estimate  of  construction   $  20,265.00 


46  COLUMBIA    SOUTHERN    IRRIGATION    PROJECT. 


ESTIMATE    ON    DISTRIBUTION    SYSTEM. 

Excavation  and  flumes,    35,000  acres  at   $5.50 $192,500.00 

Structures,    35,000    acres    at    $1.00 35,000.00 


$227,500.00 
Value    of    present    system 45,000.00 


Construction    cost    of    distribution    system $182,500.00 

SUMMARY    OF   TOTAL    COST. 
Construction — 

Broken    Top    Diversion    canal $   23,100.00 

Enlargement   of   Wimer   canal    5,000.00 

Feed    canal    100,290.00 

Reservoir   roads  and  excavation   of   cut 1,700.00 

Tumalo     dam     169,692.00 

Bull    Creek    dam    20,265.00 

Distribution    system    182,500.00 


Total   construction   $502,547.00 

Engineering,     contingencies,     incidentals,     administration, 

etc.,    15    per   cent   $  75,382.00 

Land  purchases  necessary  for  reservoir,   etc 80,000.00 

Advertising    for    sale    of    lands 35,000.00 

Preliminary     investigation,     surveys,     engineers,     lawyers. 

etc 40,000.00 

Amount   to   be   refunded   contract   holders   under   segrega- 
tion,   about 85,000.00 


Total  cost  for  35,000  acres    (at  $23.37  per  acre)  ....$817,829.00 

NOTE. — The  last  two  items  of  $40,000.00  and  $85,000.00  will  be  paid  by  an 
issue  of  preferred  stock  in  the  new  reorganized  company,  and  will  be  discussed 
further  in  a  following  paragraph. 

RETURNS   FROM    LAND   SALES. 

As  previously  mentioned  31,700  acres  under  the  project  are 
withdrawn  from  entry  under  the  terms  of  the  Carey  Act.  Of 
this  amount  24,000  acres  are  classed  as  irrigable,  which  leaves 
a  balance  of  11,000  acres  of  land  in  private  ownership  to  be 
supplied  with  water  on  the  basis  of  35,000  acre  project.  The 
original  Columbia  Southern  project  consisted  of  27,000  acres  of 
Carey  Act  lands  of  which  about  17,000  acres  were  sold.  As  set 
forth  in  Exhibit  No.  1,  the  lands  that  were  included  under  the 
old  project  are  divided  into  four  classes :  A,  those  that  have 
irrigated  at  least  15%  of  their  contract  holdings  before  Novem- 
ber, 1909,  and  are  entitled  to  a  complete  water  right  under 
the  ne.w  constructed  reservoir  system  by  the  payment  of  $15.00 
per  acre  additional  to  the  old  lien ;  B,  those  that  had  not  irri- 
gated 15%  of  their  holdings  prior  to  November,  1909,  but  who 
are  willing  to  retain  the  lands  embraced  under  their  old  con- 
tracts under  the  increased  lien  of  $50.00  per  acre,  receiving 
credit,  however,  on  their  new  contracts,  for  all  sums  previously 
paid;  C,  those  that  had  not  irrigated  at  least  15%  of  their 
holdings  prior  to  November,  1909,  and  who  are  now  willing  to 
surrender  and  cancel  their  contracts  upon  the  issuance  to  them 
of  preferred  stock  in  the  new  reorganized  company  to  the 


COLUMBIA   SOUTHERN   IRRIGATION   PROJECT.  47 

amount  that  had  been  previously  paid  on  their  contracts;  D, 
those  lands  under  the  original  Columbia  Southern  project  that 
remain  unsold.  The  new  lien  established  by  the  State  on  classes 
C  and  D  is  an  average  of  $66.00  per  irrigable  acre,  which  also 
applies  to  class  E  which  is  a  new  Carey  Act  segregation  of 
4,700  acres.  For  all  non-irrigable  lands  embraced  imder  the 
Carey  Act  an  average  lien  of  $3.75  applies.  For  water-rights 
to  private  lands  I  believe  a  price  of  $50.00  per  acre  to  be  very 
reasonable,  and  as  there  is  a  great  deal  more  land  available 
than  water  there  should  be  no  trouble  to  dispose  of  same  for 
that  price. 

Under  class  "A"  there  will  be  about  3,000  acres  of  irrigable 
land,  the  owners  of  which  will  pay  $15.00  per  acre  in  addition 
to  the  amounts  due  oh  their  former  contracts.  The  amount 
due  under  this  class  on  the  old  lien  is  about  $15,000.00  mak- 
ing a  total  of  $60,000.00  returns  from  this  class. 

Tinder  Class  "B"  there  will  be  about  3,000  acres  of  irrigable 
land  which  will  be  sold  for  $50.00  per  acre.  A  credit  of  about 
$30,000  will  have  to  be  made  for  amounts  previously  paid 
which  would  leave  $120,000  returns  from  this  class. 

Under  Classes  C.  D.  E.  there  is  available  about  18,000  acres 
of  irrigable  land  which  can  be  sold  for  an  average  price  of 
$66.00  per  acre,  bringing  in  returns  of  $1,188,000.  This  land 
will  be  sold  for  prices  ranging  from  $50  to  $75  per  acre.  There 
will  also  be  returns  from  about  6200  acres  of  non-irrigable 
land  under  these  classes  at  an  average  price  of  $3.75  per 
acre,  or  $23,250.  In  order  to  sell  the  lands  in  Class  C  it  will 
be  necessary  to  make  arrangements  with  the  holders  of  con- 
tracts to  cancel  same.  This  has  been  done  with  the  great 
majority,  in  that  they  have  agreed  to  accept  preferred  stock 
in  the  new  reorganized  company  in  par  value  of  the  amount 
previously  paid  on  their  contracts.  It  is  estimated  that  about 
$85,000  worth  of  preferred  stock  will  be  necessary  to  cancel 
these  contracts,  as  set  .forth  in  the  summary  of  total  cost 
on  page  40. 

For  all  lands  under  Classes  C,  D  and  E,  or  about  24,200 
acres,  a  payment  of  $1.00  per  acre  must  be  made  to  the  State 
under  the  terms  of  the  contract  in  Exhibit  Number  1. 

From  the  lands  purchased  in  connection  with  the  reservoir 
there  will  be  available  about  600  acres  of  private  lands  owned 
by  the  company,  above  the  limits  of  the  water  surface  of  the 
reservoir.  As  these  are  choice  lands  already  improved  they 
could  no  doubt  be  sold  for  $75.00  per  acre  including  water 
rights,  bringing  in  returns  of  $45,000.  This  would  leave 
water  rights  available  for  10,400  acres  of  land  in  private 
ownership,  that  could  be  sold  for  $50.00  per  acre,  or  $520,000. 


48  COLUMBIA    SOUTHERN    IRRIGATION    PROJECT. 

A  complete  summary  of  the  return  for  land  sales  would 
appear  as  follows  : 

3,000  acres  of  class  "A"  at  $15.00 $       45,000.00 

Amount  due  under  old   lien  ...  15,000.00 


Total     $       60,000.00 

3,000  acres  of  class  "B"  at  $50.00 150,000.00 

Credit   for  'previous  payments 30,000.00 


Total     120,000.00 

18,000  acres  of  classes   "C,"    "D,"    "E,"   at   $66.00 1,188,000.00 

6,200   acres   non-irrigable   land   at   $3.75    per   acre 23,250.00 


$1,211,250.00 
Credit   to   State,    24,200   acres   at   $1.00 24,200.00 


Total     : $1,187,000.00 

10,400  acres,  private  water  rights,  at  $50.00  per  acre..       520,000.00 
600    acres,    private    land    and   water    rights,    at    $75.00 

per   acre   45,000.00 


Total      565,000.00 


Total  returns  from  the  sales  of  land  and 
water  rights  (35,000  acres  at  average 
$55.20)  $1,932,050.00 

Arrangements  for  the  sale  of  water-rights  before  the  lands 
are  reclaimed  have  been  made  as  set  forth  in  paragraph  10 
of  exhibit  No.  1.  The  interest  on  deferred  payments,  however, 
will  not  commence  until  the  water  is  available. 

By  using  the  Wimer  Canal  however  about  2,000  acres  of 
new  land  in  addition  to  the  600  acres  of  private  lands  could 
be  watered  by  the  spring  of  1913.  If  construction  was  com- 
menced in  the  near  future  and  carried  forward  with  speed,  I 
estimate  that  about  10,000  acres  could  be  watered  in  1913. 
The  sale  of  lands  and  water-rights  however  could  commence  at 
once,  and  as  soon  as  the  water  is  available  to  the  lands  the 
interest  on  deferred  payments  could  commence.  With  the 
splendid  transportation  facilities  at  hand,  the  lands  should 
sell  rapidly,  but  in  case  all  the  lands  are  not  sold  when  the 
works  are  completed,  the  lien  as  established  by  the  State 
will  increase  at  the  rate  of  6  per  cent  per  annum.  All  the 
works  should  and  could  be  easily  completed  by  the  spring 
of  1914. 

On  certain  assumptions  as  to  probable  sale  of  lands  by 
certain  dates,  Exhibit  No.  6  has  been  prepared,  which  shows 
a  complete  financial  table,  and  also  the  basis  on  which  it 
was  prepared. 

PLANS,    SPECIFICATIONS   AND    PHOTOGRAPHS. 

The  above  estimates  have  all  been  made  in  accordance  with 
the  plans  and  specifications  covering  the  work  of  the  whole 
project,  which  accompany  this  report  and  are  made  a  part 


COLUMBIA   SOUTHERN   IRRIGATION   PROJECT.  49 

hereof.  Photographs  showing  portions  of  the  unimproved 
lands,  location  of  some  of  the  important  structures,  and 
views  of  different  crops  under  the  project  are  also  included 
herewith.  The  following  classification  may  be  referred  to : 

Exhibit  No.  1 — Preliminary  contract  between  the  Desert 
Land  Board  of  the  State  of  Oregon,  and  Mr.  Alma 
D.  Katz  with  a  copy  of  the  permanent  contract 
attached. 

Exhibit  No.  2— Plans. 

Exhibit  No.  3 — Specifications. 

Exhibit  No.  4 — Photographs. 

Exhibit  No.  5 — Soil  Analysis. 

Exhibit  No.  6— Financial  Sheet. 

Exhibit  No.  7— Copy  of  D.  C.  Kenny's  report, 

CONCLUSIONS. 

The  water  supply  has  been  discussed  at  some  length  and  I 
consider  the  amount  available  ample  for  at  least  35,000  acres 
of  irrigable  land. 

The  duty  of  water  as  fixed  in  your  contract  with  the  State 
is  ample  for  the  crops  suitable  for  the  project.  The.  soil, 
climate,  location  and  condition  in  general  are  such  as  would 
make  a  very  good  dairying  community.  With  the  assurance 
of  good  crops  of  alfalfa,  clover,  timothy,  vegetables  of  all 
kinds,  and  garden  truck,  the  lands  are  valuable.  I  consider 
the  unimproved  lands  with  water-rights  easily  worth  $100 
per  acre,  so  they  are  good  security  for  the  liens  as  established 
for  water-rights.  Lands  under  the  project  partially  improved 
have  already  been  sold  .for  as  high  as  $125  per  acre. 

If  the  project  is  constructed  as  planned,  it  will  have  a  com- 
paratively small  portion  that  will  have  a  heavy  maintenance 
charge.  About  6,000  feet  of  flume  in  the  feed  canal  and  the 
wooden  structure  of  the  distribution  system  will  probably  have 
to  be  replaced  about  once  every  8  or  10  years.  A  sinking  fund 
of  25  cents  per  acre  annually  will  provide  for  this.  In  addition 
I  estimate  about  $1.00  per  acre  annually  ought  to  cover  the 
maintenance  and  repair  work,  water  superintendent,  ditch 
riders,  clerical  work,  etc.  I,  therefore,  recommend  that  the 
maintenance  fee  be  fixed  at  $1.25  per  acre  per  year,  as  allowed 
by  your  contract  with  the  State. 

The  total  cost  of  the  constructed  project  at  $817,829  and 
the  net  returns  from  the  sale  of  lands  and  water-rights  at 
$1,932,050  shows  a  profit  of  135%  on  the  original  investment. 
With  the  provisions  in  your  contract  that  you  can  commence 


50  COLUMBIA    SOUTHERN    IRRIGATION    PROJECT. 

the  sale  of  lands  and  water-rights  as  soon  as  construction  is 
commenced,  funds  and  securities  will  be  available  as  returns 
as  soon  as  the  project  is  completed  and  water  available  for 
the  lands.  I  consider  the  project  very  feasible  and  attractive 
from  every  standpoint. 

In  regard  to  the  amount  and  method  of  payment  for  the 
lands  I  should  consult  the  purchaser  and  give  him  some  choice 
provided  he  can  pay  at  least  one-fifth  cash,  and  can  pay  at 
least  one-tenth  annually  with  interest  on  the  deferred  pay- 
ments at  6%. 

The  engineering  features  of  the  entire  project  are  all  simple 
requiring  no  special  consideration  nor  complications.  The 
works  planned  are  all  standard  type  without  any  special 
feature  of  danger  or  risk,  and  can  be  constructed  on  a  force 
account  basis  or  can  be  let  by  contract.  There  is  of  course 
some  risk  attached  to  all  reservoirs  until  they  have  been  tested 
by  being  filled  with  water.  The  reservoir  planned  for  this 
project  has  less  objectional  features  than  most  of  them,  in 
fact  all  the  conditions  and  investigations  show  that  Tumalo 
reservoir  should  make  an  entirely  satisfactory,  safe,  reservoir. 
The  unit  prices  and  other  estimates  are  liberal  and  I  believe 
that  the  works  can  actually  be  constructed  with  a  saving  over 
the  estimates. 

Very  respectfully  submitted, 

(Signed)  0.  LAURGAARD, 

Irrigation  Engineer. 


NOTE:  The  exhibits  referred  to  in  the  above  report 
are  not  reproduced  here  owing  to  the  excessive  length  of 
some,  and  the  difficulty  of  printing  others  without  great 
expense  for  cuts.  The  report,  with  exhibits  is  on  file  in 
the  office  of  the  State  Engineer,  and  members  of  the 
legislature,  or  others  interested  are  invited  to  examine 
same. 


Binder 
Gaylord  Bros 

Makers 
Stockton,  Calif 

W.  MN.  21,  1908   ' 


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